“Can’t pray the gay or the trans away”: Push for council to support ban
A Southern Tasmanian council will discuss whether it should support a ban on conversion therapy. DETAILS>>
Tasmania
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THE Hobart City Council will decide whether it should advocate to ban conversion therapy, following recommendations from the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute in May.
A motion will be moved at Monday’s council meeting by Councillor Jax Fox to advocate for the ban and write to the state government calling for the recommendations to be implemented.
“It’s incredibly harmful, people who have experienced it suffer higher rate of suicide,” Cr Fox said.
“You can’t erase someone’s identity by trying to pray the gay or the trans away.”
The Tasmanian Law Reform Institute made 16 recommendations, including to ban conversion therapy practices in Tasmania and for gender dysphoria treatment and assessment to only carried out by qualified health professionals.
The recommendations were supported in an open letter by forty doctors.
Cr Fox said it was well within the council’s role to be advocates for the community.
“I think there are some people on council who think this is a waste of time, and that comes from people who have never experienced the marginalisation the people this is for have experienced,” Cr Fox said.
“It’s to say we do see you and we’ll do everything we can to help you.
“I hope we’ll write to the state government on behalf of the council and say we know this is coming up and this is what we need to do.”
Cr Fox said the council had an interesting history when it came to supporting the LGBTIQ+ community.
“There has been some really good stuff that’s been done, we’ve got the new LGBTIQ+ commitment plan, which includes that we’ll advocate for the needs of our community and that we’ll be inclusive,” they said.
“We have had problematic things like our buildings being used for events that are trans-exclusionary.
“We haven’t always got it right but we are taking positive steps forward and this would be another really good step forward.”
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Originally published as “Can’t pray the gay or the trans away”: Push for council to support ban
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