Alachua County Conversion Therapy Ban

SLC joined a coalition of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in North Central Florida to push for Alachua County to pass a ban on conversion therapy for minors. Conversion therapy is a harmful and scientifically denounced practice with the goal of changing or reducing one’s same-sex attraction or altering a person’s gender identity through physical treatments like aversive conditioning, and a variety of behavioral, cognitive, and psychoanalytic practices. Leading professional medical and mental health associations across the nation have rejected conversion therapy as unnecessary, ineffective, and dangerous. SLC assisted the community coalition by providing legal research and drafting, and supervised eight law students from the UF College of Law’s LGBTQ+ student organization who assisted in these efforts. The Alachua County Commission voted unanimously to approve the ban in May 2019. For more information, click here