West Lafayette’s proposed ordinance on banning conversion therapy raises questions – Journal & Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Questions about an ordinance proposed at the end of 2021 banning the use of conversion therapy trickle into the new year, as the West Lafayette City Council prepares to bring up the controversial agenda item in February..

Ordinance 31-21, whichwould ban treatment aimed at changingan individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual, was introduced at December's city council meeting. Wording in the ordinance included, "It shall be a violation of this ordinance for an unlicensed person to engage in conversion therapy with a minor person."

Dr. Steve Viars, a pastor at Faith Lafayette, contacted the Journal & Courier with a commentary he wrote about the ordinance. Within Viars' writing, he explained concerns he and other members of Faith Biblical Counseling have with the anti-conversion ordinance.

"Imagine a scenario where an area teenager voluntarily visits a self-identified faith-based counselor, but because the counselor used the Bible as their source of truth, the local police department imposed a fine of $1000 per day," Viars wrote."Sound like a poorly-written plotline from a dystopian fiction flick? Actually, that could be our new reality, courtesy of the West Lafayette City Council and their proposed ordinance 31-21."

Viars also mentioned a questionnaire citizenssent to the city council members to "determine what they were seeking to achieve." According to Viars, two of the nine city council members have responded. The full questionnaire is available athttps://www.freedomlafayette.org/.

Viars' commentary is published on the Journal & Courier website.

The public as well as members of the council have expressed confusionwiththe ordinance's wordingto what types of licensed professionals the ordinance refers; what the punishment for practicing conversion therapy would be; and what defines conversion therapy.

"There are governmental entities who have banned conversion therapy to some degree, but have had difficulty with enforcement as there is a great deal of controversy as to what constitutes conversion therapy," John Dennis, West Lafayette mayor, told the Journal & Courier."Other agencies seem to be focused on acts or therapies that can be 'psychologically damaging or personally threatening.'

"The bigger question is how would the city patrol or enforce issues relating to the concept of free speech? From a purely operational perspective this ban would be very challenging to enforce ... would we hand out tickets?"

During the December West Lafayette City Council meeting, members voted to table Ordinance 31-21 to the February 2022 meeting in order to more specifically reorganize the document's phrasing.

"We are continuing to work on it with our fellow city councilors (and) city attorney to clarify the language," David Sanders, a council member and co-sponsor for the ordinance, said. "I think the most important issue that needs to be clarified is the nature of enforcement. So we're continuing to work on that.

"We've already agreed on substantive changes. We had an amendment which I proposed and which was adopted that discusses the protections of First Amendment rights and rights under Title One of the Indiana Constitution."

The Indiana Constitution includes protections stating, "No law shall, in any case whatever, control the free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions, or interfere with the rights of conscience."

Concerns of protecting free speech and freedom of religion have beenraised, and Sanders assures that these protections are being considered as the ordinance's wording is being reworked.

"We want to reassure people that there was no intention to infringe upon those types of rights," Sanders said.

The second reading of rdinance 31-21 is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email herat mtroup@jconline.com and follow heron Twitter@MargaretJC2

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West Lafayette's proposed ordinance on banning conversion therapy raises questions - Journal & Courier