Akron may add penalties for those who flout restrictions on conversion therapy for minors

Akron’s ordinance prohibiting conversion therapy on minors may soon be amended to include a way to prosecute violators.

First, however, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik’s administration wants to discuss the proposed change with community organizations that supported the original decree. The City Council planned to vote on adopting the amendment at its Monday night meeting, but postponed it at Malik’s request to allow groups to weigh in on the matter.

A 2022 Akron ordinance made it illegal to perform therapy — counseling that aims to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity — on a minor. But the rule has no enforcement mechanism. The amendment seeks to criminalize the practice, classifying it as a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of up to US$1,500.

As originally writtenthe ordinance grants the Akron Civil Rights Commission the “authority to investigate and consider complaints of violations of this chapter, and may create such rules and procedures for receiving, initiating, investigating, holding hearings, and issuing orders and penalties on complaints alleging violations of this chapter .”

In an emailed statement, city spokeswoman Stephanie Marsh wrote, ““We moved the legislation back to committee (City Council) to allow more time for the administration to connect with various LGBTQ+ vested organizations and listen your comments on the proposed application change We will provide updates when we have additional information.”

City Council President Margo Sommerville asked Nanette Pitt, Malik’s chief strategy officer, on Monday why the mayor wanted to pause the process after introducing the item at last week’s council meeting.

Pitt responded that she and Sommerville received an email earlier in the day from community groups interested in discussing the legislation further.

Pitt said the requested extra time allows city officials to “interact with public groups and talk more about the legislation itself.”

According to the ordinance, the practice of conversion therapy was condemned by the American Academy of PediatricsO American Association for Marriage and Family TherapyO American Counseling Association and the American Medical Association.

The legislation states that conversion therapy practitioners “operate under the erroneous assumption that non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identities are mental disorders and that sexual orientation and gender identity can and should be changed.”

It further states that practitioners “often use aversive conditioning, which involves the use of electric shock, food and fluid deprivation, smelling salts, and chemically induced nausea,” and calls out the use of such techniques in attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation as a violation of ethical codes. of the American Psychological and Psychiatric Associations.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413

This article originally appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Mayor Shammas Malik Seeks to Amend City’s Conversion Therapy Ban