City Clerk

Section 34-43.                                    Prohibition of Conversion Therapy

(a) Findings and Purpose.     

     (1) Conversion therapy is an ineffective and unsafe practice based on the discredited premise that a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation is a mental disorder that can be cured or corrected;
     (2) The practice of conversion therapy has been found to be dangerous to an individual’s mental and physical wellbeing and there is no scientifically valid evidence that supports the practice of conversion therapy; and
     (3) The American Psychological Association, The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all been critical of conversion therapy; and
     (4) The purpose of this Section is to protect the physical and psychological well-being of minors from the harm caused by conversion therapy.

(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section, the following terms shall have the meanings stated below:   

      (1) Conversion therapy means any practice or treatment by a provider that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. Conversion therapy shall not include counseling that provides support and assistance to a person undergoing gender transition, or counseling that provides acceptance, support and understanding of a person or facilitates a person’s coping, social support, identity exploration, development, including sexual orientation and gender identity, and neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, if such counseling is not conducted with the goal of changing the person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
     (2) Gender expression means a person’s expression of gender identity through appearance and behavior, including how an individual believes that they are perceived by others.
     (3) Gender identity means a person’s sense of self as a woman, man, another gender, or genderless. When a person’s gender identity or gender expression and sex assigned at birth are not congruent, the individual may identify along the transgender spectrum.
     (4) Minor means any person under 18 years of age.
     (5) Provider means any licensed, certified, or registered under the laws of the State of Minnesota, including mental health practitioners and mental health professionals as defined in Minnesota Statutes, Section 245.462, to provide mental health services. Providers include mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, physicians, psychologists, psychotherapists, chemical dependency professions, and their associates. A provider does not include members of the clergy who are acting in their roles as clergy or pastoral counselors and providing religious counseling to congregants.
     (6) Sexual Orientation means a component of identity that includes a person’s sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction. A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, and/or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities. Individuals may identify as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or asexual, among others.

(c) Prohibited Practices. It shall be unlawful for a provider to provide conversion therapy to a minor.

(d) Violations of this Section are punishable by fines of not to exceed those set in accordance with Section 31-8 of this Code for the first and second offenses and a fine as provided in Section 1-7 of this Code for all subsequent offenses.