About Duluth's Conversion Therapy Ban
In December, 2019 the Duluth City Council passed ordinance 19-071 which made it illegal to provide conversion therapy to a minor in the City of Duluth. Conversion therapy is any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. The purpose of the ordinance is to protect the physical and psychological well-being of minors from the harm caused by conversion therapy.
In order to avoid detection, some providers refer to conversion therapy as:
- Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE)
- Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy (SAFE-T)
- Eliminating, reducing, or decreasing unwanted frequency or intensity of unwanted Same-Sex Attraction (SSA)
- Reparative Therapy
- Sexual Reorientation Efforts
- Ex-gay ministry
- Promoting healthy sexuality
- Addressing sexual addictions and disorders
- Sexuality counseling
- Encouraging relational and sexual wholeness
- Healing sexual brokenness
Proponents of conversion therapy often intentionally conflate the attempted altering of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression with the treatment of an actual condition such as sexual addiction. Some claim they are helping clients explore their “sexual fluidity,” or they emphasize that their clients struggle with “unwanted same-sex attractions” or “gender confusion.”
If you believe that conversion therapy is being practiced, or if you or someone else has been subjected to conversion therapy, you can file a report with the City of Duluth. Reports can be made anonymously and you do not need to have personally been a victim of conversion therapy in order to file a report.