Senator Brad Hoylman Responds to Federal Court Ruling that Bans on Anti-LGBTQ 'Conversion Therapy' Violate 1st Amendment

NEW YORK -- Senator Brad Hoylman (Manhattan-D/WFP) issued the following statement in response to news that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down LGBTQ conversion therapy bans in Florida:

“The practice known as  ‘conversion therapy’ is barbaric and fraudulent child abuse and has no place in our society. This decision by Trump-appointed judges is a perversion of justice that wrongly weaponizes the First Amendment against LGBTQ youth. I am proud to have sponsored New York’s ban on conversion therapy, which remains in full effect despite this horrendous decision, and I will fight tooth and nail against efforts to roll back legal protections for young LGBTQ New Yorkers.”

Senator Hoylman was the sponsor of legislation with Assembly Member Deborah Glick enacted in 2019 that prohibited licensed mental health professionals from engaging in so-called conversion therapy with minors. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision today in Otto v. City of Boca Raton does not have an immediate impact on New York’s conversion therapy ban, but may set the stage for a future U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of such laws.