A unanimous vote at city council means there will be a report coming to council looking at banning conversion therapy in Thunder Bay.
There was a presentation Monday night given by President Jason Veltri and Vice President of Inclusion Jessy Bogacki from Rainbow Collective.
They were joined by Dr. Kristopher Wells from McEwan University, a leading expert in the field.
When explaining the practice: “It essentially is if you’re a two-spirit, queer, trans, bisexual person, that you could undergo counselling or therapy sessions to convert you to being heterosexual.”
Dr. Wells discredits the practice, and says it causes harms to anyone forced into it.
“It’s a bit of a misnomer to even call it conversion therapy which is why you will often see it in quotation marks,” says Dr. Wells. “It’s not a recognized therapy at all, it is a form of abuse and family violence and child focused violence.”
Dr. Wells notes how punishing those who carry out conversion therapy can be enforced.
“Fines of up to $10,000 per individual per instance who practice conversion therapy, or as in the case recently with Regina or Saskatoon, fines of up to $25,000 for organizations or corporations that may be practicing conversion therapy,” explains Dr. Wells. “Generally the bylaws offer the highest funds possible, given the heinous nature of conversion therapy and the harm and destruction it causes.”
Bill C-6 is currently before the Senate after it passed its second reading in June, with 62 Conservative MPs voting against it.
In Ontario there is an amending Bill to the Health Insurance Act that protects a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, but only until the age of 18.
