In 2021, Columbia City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting licensed professionals from giving minors “conversion therapy,” which seeks to convince gay and lesbian people that they are heterosexual. The capital city became the first and only municipality in the state to protect its youth against this harmful and discredited practice.
Anti-gay politicians have been trying to overturn that ordinance ever since.
On April 23, 2025, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson sent a letter to the City of Columbia demanding that it repeal the ordinance. The same day, the South Carolina Senate adopted a budget amendment that threatened to eliminate state funding to the city unless it changed the ordinance.
As the most powerful people in South Carolina once again turn their focus toward bullying vulnerable kids, let’s review the facts about what’s in the ordinance and who it protects.
The ordinance only applies to licensed professionals
Columbia Code of Ordinances Chapter 14, Article V, Section 14-170, protects minors in the capital city “from exposure to the serious harms and risks caused by conversion therapy or reparative therapy by licensed providers.”
The ordinance specifies that it only applies to licensed medical or mental health professionals. Violating the ordinance is considered a civil infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $500 per offense. Columbia is still the only local government in South Carolina with such an ordinance in place, although it is hardly unique nationwide. 23 states have banned the practice for minors, and hundreds of local governments have adopted similar ordinances.
You can read Columbia’s full ordinance here.
The rights of religious communities are not at stake
In his press release, Attorney General Wilson characterized Columbia’s ordinance as a “faith-based counseling ban.” But as mentioned above, the ordinance only applies to licensed counselors. It does not prohibit anti-gay speech and practices within religious institutions.
Unfortunately some news outlets have run with the attorney general’s spin, with at least one headline declaring that Wilson wants the city to remove its “ban on faith-based counseling.”
‘Conversion therapy’ is harmful pseudo-therapy based on junk science
The notion that same-sex attraction is a mental disorder in need of treatment was discredited by all major health professional organizations more than 50 years ago. The American Psychiatric Association board voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1973.
To quote from the APA’s position statement on “conversion therapy” in the year 2000:
“[A]necdotal reports of ‘cures’ are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, ‘reparative’ therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, [the American Psychiatric Association] recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals’ sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm.”
Even some of the most prominent religious organizations practicing “conversion therapy” have abandoned the practice. In 2013, the Orlando-based Christian ministry Exodus International dissolved itself after 37 years. Founder Michael Bussee publicly apologized for the harm he had caused and wrote, “In the almost 40 years since I started Exodus International, I can honestly say that I have never met a gay person who became heterosexual through conversion therapy or ex-gay programs.”
South Carolina is a hot spot for anti-gay ‘therapy’
A 2018 investigation by The Post and Courier found that South Carolina was home to “one of the nation’s most expansive networks of ex-gay ministries and counseling practices,” with at least 9 groups operating in the state.
The report was harrowing. The director of a youth suicide prevention program spoke about how so-called “conversion therapy” was harming the mental health of young people. The report stated:
“One man described group sessions in a Columbia church basement followed by one-on-one time in a counselor's office, where he was compelled to watch heterosexual pornography in an effort to cultivate a desire for women.”
Interviewees shared stories of trauma, suicidality, and heterosexual marriages that ended in divorce. “I’ve still got damage to work through for years and years and years of being essentially taught to hate myself,” one man told reporters.
But even in South Carolina, this discredited practice is on its way out. Hope for Wholeness, a Spartanburg-based ministry that was poised to become the most prominent ex-gay ministry in the U.S. after the 2013 collapse of Exodus International, announced it was also dissolving in 2020.
Politicians are using LGBTQ+ people as political pawns
It’s worth noting that the politicians yelling the loudest about lifting Columbia’s prohibition on “conversion therapy” have also hinted that they are running for governor in 2026. Attorney General Alan Wilson announced in January that he was “considering” a run for governor. State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who proposed the budget amendment threatening Columbia’s funding, told reporters asking about his candidacy in February, “It’s most likely gonna happen.”
(Meanwhile U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, another likely contender, has not weighed in on Columbia’s conversion therapy ordinance but has consistently used her public platform this year to attack the rights and dignity of transgender people.)
It’s an all-too-familiar story for generations of South Carolinians: The most powerful people are trying to outdo one another in cruelty, and they aren’t afraid to hurt vulnerable kids in the process.
If you would like to show support for Columbia leaders who are resisting state pressure to drop the “conversion therapy” ban, you can contact City Council members at the link below or join local advocates at the next Columbia City Council meeting on May 6 at 4 p.m. (1737 Main Street, Third Floor, Columbia, SC 29201).
