Last week Arizona became the 27th state in the country to ban the practice of conversion therapy. A new bill was introduced in Ohio — HB 220 — would make the Buckeye State the 28th to do so.
Conversion therapy, sometimes called reparative therapy or reintegrative therapy, is a set of widely condemned practices designed to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Every single major medical and psychological organization has said that conversion therapy both doesn’t work and does actual harm like increasing anxiety, depression, and suicidality.
Currently, conversion therapy is banned in 11 different municipalities in Ohio, covering roughly 25% of Ohio’s population.
The Buckeye Flame spoke with Rep. Mary Lightbody, sponsor of HB 220, to learn more about her latest effort to ban this practice statewide. Click play directly below to listen to our chat or read our conversation underneath.
First, what would HB 220 actually do?
Rep. Lightbody: The bill would prohibit licensed health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy when treating minors, those under the age of 18. It would require state licensing boards to sanction any health care professional who does practice conversion therapy on minors.
And it exempts specified conduct that does not seek to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity from the bill’s prohibition.
The big question always with these conversion therapy bans is enforcement. How would enforcement work if HB 220 is passed?
Well, obviously we’ve got to get it passed first, but there are licensed medical professionals in the state who do engage and advertise their [conversion therapy] services on social media. This would prohibit them from doing so.
Should we find that they continue to do so, their their medical license would be in jeopardy.
HB 220 was assigned to a committee pretty quickly. That felt promising…?
The Health Committee in the last General Assembly received so many bills that this year we have two different health committees. The one that this bill has been assigned to is the Public Health Policy Committee, and I have 18 co sponsors on this bill.
The big thing, as you said earlier, is to get this passed. How, how can our readers support getting this passed?
So that’s always a challenge. Because I introduced this bill in the first year of this two-year General Assembly, the chair of the committee must allow me to provide sponsor testimony. But whether it gets a second or third hearing really depends upon the kind of support and the kind of community pressure the chair of the committee and members of the committee might receive from those who are interested in coming to testify.
The first thing that people can do is go online to get a copy of the bill. They can set up a legislative alert so that they will know when the bill is scheduled for my sponsor testimony. Then they can come to the statehouse on that day and attend that Public Health Policy committee meeting, sit in the audience and listen to me provide sponsor testimony. It is not lost on the chair of the committee when the committee room is packed with supporters.
When I’m done, all of those who came to hear my sponsor testimony would then get up and depart, which also shows the large number of folks who are in the audience who are supportive, who are therefore willing to come back and provide proponent testimony. Because when proponent testimony is scheduled, there will be a very short turnaround time.
I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the state of Ohio for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s been a rough couple weeks with the messages that the LGBTQ+ community is receiving from the Columbus statehouse. What do you have to say to LGBTQ+ Ohioans about whether they should stay here, whether they are safe here and, I think the question for you, whether they are represented here?
Gosh, of course, that’s the crux of of this whole discussion. I would say that we need our young people who have talents and skills to stay in Ohio and help contribute to the growing economy.
I represent Westerville, New Albany, and Gahanna, the northeast corner of Franklin County, and have heard from companies within my district — including folks from Intel, which is just over the county line — about the importance of having legislation that supports the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Many municipalities have passed anti discrimination ordinances, including Westerville and Gahanna in my district. But I know that there are is very strong support in New Albany, as well as around central Ohio and in other pockets [of Ohio] for support for our LGBTQ+ community members.
That is a very positive step and I think strong indication that the majority of the members who are pushing these anti LGBTQ+ bills, especially against trans youth, are not representative of the state of Ohio.
At the bottom of all of this is the fact that we have heavily gerrymandered districts. And so pushing for the newly revised commission that ia going to be drawing new maps for the 2024 elections, that’s also a pressure point where people can express their dissatisfaction.
I’m also encouraging five minute conversations with folks in our families and in our communities and our friendship groups on topics in which we know we don’t agree with the other person on certain issues. And in that five minute conversation, as soon as it starts getting heated, we’re going to stop the conversation. But what will happen is we’ll both go home, and start doing some research on our own. And the next time we meet, we’ll have an additional conversation, which might be a little more collaborative, a little more respectful, and we can come closer together on those issues. And I think that would help remove some of the polarization that’s happening across the state and across the country.
People can find so many avenues for discussion and information that are siloed and it’s only one side of the argument of the discussion of that policy issue. Let’s listen to both sides and become as well informed as we can and work more collaboratively together to support and respect the rights of everyone in the state of Ohio as they present themselves to us. 🔥
Ignite Action
- Read all about HB 220, which would ban conversion therapy in Ohio, and sign up for alerts so you’ll be in the know about its first hearing.
- Reach out to Rep. Mary Lightbody if you have any feedback on HB 220. If you are a survivor of conversion therapy here in Ohio or have ideas to improve this bill, she would like to hear from you!
- The Buckeye Flame is working on a larger piece about conversion therapy in Ohio. If you have experienced conversion therapy in Ohio and are comfortable sharing your story, please reach out to editor@thebuckeyeflame.com.
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