Wisconsin Republicans oppose a prohibition on ‘conversion therapy’

• Wisconsin Republicans voted to reinstate conversion therapy.
• A ban on the practice was overruled.
• Conversion therapy is condemned as harmful and potentially suicidal.

Republicans in Wisconsin voted on Thursday to reinstate the practise of conversion therapy, in which therapists, social workers, and counsellors attempt to alter the gender identities and sexual orientations of LGBTQ clients.

A state commission supervising the licencing of mental health professionals under the Democratic governor’s administration passed a ban on conversion therapy in 2020. But a committee in the Republican-led Legislature temporarily overruled the prohibition both back then and again on Thursday, with all six Republicans voting to do so and the four Democrats voting to maintain it.

Advocates for LGBTQ rights have condemned the damaging, scientifically debunked practise of attempting to “convert” LGBTQ people to heterosexuality and conventional gender expectations, noting evidence that the practise may raise the risk of suicide.

According to the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that supports LGBTQ rights, conversion therapy for children is prohibited in at least 20 states and the District of Columbia. One of them is not Wisconsin.

The regulation outlawing conversion therapy was created by an examination board in the Department of Safety and Public Standards, sparking criticism from Republican legislators who presented a bill to overturn it in January 2021. In order to override Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ veto and temporarily lift the restriction, lawmakers referred the bill to committee for the remainder of the 2021–2022 legislative session.

If the bill had succeeded, Evers, who prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to finance adolescent conversion treatment via an executive order in 2021, would very definitely have vetoed it.

After lawmakers failed to permanently prevent it by the end of the previous legislative session, the ban was reinstated. Since Evers’ reelection on December 1st, it has been reinstated.

The rules committee’s reasoning for suspending the ban in 2021 was reiterated by Mike Mikalsen, chief of staff to state Sen. Steve Nass, who is also the committee’s co-chair. Mikalsen told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that the licencing board lacked authority under state law to reinstate the ban.

The policy itself is not the issue, according to Mikalsen.

Democrats don’t concur. Republicans’ decision to intercede, according to state senator Kelda Roys, who serves on the rules committee, was “wildly out of step” with the conventions for establishing professional standards.

“It’s disappointing that the very first move the GOP is going to make this legislative session is to green-light abusive practices against children,” Roys said.

Since the year began, LGBTQ rights have gained prominence in state legislatures all throughout the country. Republican legislators have previously proposed legislation to limit access to medical care for transgender people in at least 11 states. Conservatives have also attempted to limit discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools.

Before the vote, the committee’s second co-chair, state representative Adam Neylon, charged that the DSPS examining board had overstepped its authority and shaped public policy by forbidding conversion therapy. He asserted that this is the only issue, not the morality or ethics of conversion treatment.

The National Association of Social Workers’ executive director in Wisconsin, Marc Herstand, told the committee that the board has every right to outlaw conversion therapy since it amounts to improper behaviour that can push patients to commit suicide.

The prohibition on conversion therapy, according to Herstand, is essential to safeguarding the mental health of children in our state.

Since none of the parliamentarians are social workers or therapists, Roys advised the committee to ignore the entire situation.

According to Roys, “the Legislature lacks the authority to define what constitutes professional conduct in a regulated field.”

According to Julianne Appling, head of the conservative organisation Wisconsin Family Action, outlawing conversion therapy violates the free speech rights of therapists, social workers, and counsellors. She argued that the state shouldn’t be able to jeopardise their employment because they exercised their right to free speech, conscience, and religion.

A member of the LGBTQ community, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student Matthew Lehner, 19, told the committee that he is disgusted that lawmakers are even considering legalising conversion therapy. He described it as torture and a violation of human rights.

“I am outraged and sick to my stomach that a proposal such as this would even be considered in the year 2023,” Lehner said. “However, given how the Republican majority has waged war on bodily autonomy, climate science, and queer people over their years of gerrymandered reign, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

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