Leaders in St. Louis and Kansas City,
Missouri are considering legislation that would prohibit therapies
that attempt to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of
minors.
Such therapies go by names such as
“conversion therapy,” “reparative therapy,” “sexual
orientation change efforts” or “ex-gay therapy.”
On Wednesday, an aldermanic committee
advanced legislation in St. Louis. The bill now goes to the full
Board of Aldermen, the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The outlet described a public
hearing before the vote as “impassioned.”
The vote comes one week after a similar
measure cleared a council committee in Kansas City.
In announcing his legislation in
October, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas described such therapies as
“abusive.”
“It's important for us to join
communities around the country,” Lucas
said. “We are standing up as a place that's welcoming to
anybody. And that means you're not just welcomed here, but that we
are not allowing abusive practices.”
“We're trying to address something
that says if you're a recipient of a business license in Kansas City,
Missouri, we are making sure you're not engaged in these types of
harmful activities,” he added.
Last month, Columbia became the first
city in Missouri to pass such an ordinance.