COLUMBIA – Columbia City Council will vote on Tuesday, May 20, whether to rescind the city’s prohibition on anti-LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy” for minors by licensed medical and mental health professionals. Local community leaders and allies will hold a press conference immediately following the meeting, calling on city officials to defend the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ youth.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 20, immediately following the City Council meeting
WHERE: Sidewalk in front of Columbia City Hall, 1737 Main St, Columbia, SC 29201
WHO: Local faith leaders, healthcare professionals, and representatives of civil rights organizations
Columbia’s ordinance is the only one of its kind in South Carolina, but it is not unique nationwide. So far, 23 states and hundreds of municipalities have passed restrictions on this harmful practice, which attempts to force a change in a person’s sexual orientation or gender.
“I have prayed with, counseled, worshiped beside, and befriended more people than I can number who have suffered from the harm of conversion therapy. And I spiritually care for some professional counselors who care for and heal them too. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says to the legal experts and Pharisees, ‘Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?’ Would we as a city kowtow to the argument that the religious freedom of a counselor is impinged when they are banned from practicing medically harmful care? Our city boasts many faithful religious and affirming mental health counselors who save lives every day, and those for whom they care I have seen go on to live bearing fruits of the Holy Spirit. As a priest, I call on our City Counsel to uphold what is good and just in our city for the vulnerable LGBTQ young,” said The Rev. Caitlyn Keith, Associate Rector of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church.
“Conversion/reparative practices are abusive to children and are not therapy. Indeed, multiple mental health associations, including the ACA, APA, AMA, and NAMI have all spoken adamantly against these practices due to the significant harm they inflict and violation of our professional codes of ethics in the helping professions. We have a duty to not impose our personal beliefs and biases on our clients and to protect them from harm,” said Dr. Wynn Purvis, LPC-S, LMHC-S, NCC, Director of Yew Belong Community Services.
“Repealing this ordinance tells those living in Columbia, and those who may want to make Columbia home, that Columbia knows the harm conversion therapy causes, and doesn’t care. Repealing it would show that the City Council would rather bend than protect its constituents,” said Cristina Picozzi, MPH, MS, Executive Director of the Harriet Hancock Center.
“Ordinance 2021-021 was passed to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the documented harms of so-called ‘conversion therapy’—a practice every major medical and mental health association has condemned. The City of Columbia stood on the right side of history when it enacted this ordinance. Repealing it now would not only put vulnerable children at risk, it would send a dangerous message: that political pressure matters more than professional standards or human dignity,” said Matthew Butler, LGBTQ Advocacy Strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.
“The City relied on science not ideology and became the first municipality in South Carolina to ban conversion therapy for minors. We did so because we believed—rightly—that every child deserves to grow up feeling safe, accepted, and loved for who they are,” said State Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, who led the effort to pass the “conversion therapy” prohibition during her previous tenure on Columbia City Council.
All major health professional organizations discarded the notion that same-sex attraction is a mental disorder in need of treatment more than 50 years ago. Subsequent studies have found that this practice is actively harmful and should not be carried out by mental health professionals. For more information about “conversion therapy” and the history of Columbia’s ordinance, see the ACLU of South Carolina blog post, “5 things to know about ‘conversion therapy’ in Columbia, South Carolina.”
Columbia became the first city in South Carolina to prohibit this practice in 2021 with City Ordinance 2021-021. On April 22 this year, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson sent a letter demanding that the city repeal the ban, falsely claiming that the ordinance infringes on religious freedom. The same day, members of the State Senate proposed an amendment to the state budget that would strip the city of funding unless it rescinds the ordinance.
On May 6, hundreds of Columbia residents signed a letter urging City Council to keep the ordinance and delivered it to council members. The letter was co-signed by the following organizations:
ACLU of South Carolina
The Agape Table
Harriet Hancock Center
Reformation Lutheran Church
SC Equality
South Carolina Black Pride
South Carolina Pride
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Transgender Awareness Alliance
Yew Belong Community Services
