The town of Strathmore wants a ban on conversion therapy..Strathmore, a town of 13,000 located 40 km east of Calgary, last week voted to put its name on the list of Alberta communities that want the controversial therapy banned..Coun. Bob Sobol proposed a motion to request advocacy against the practice with both the federal and provincial governments while also instituting a municipal bylaw prohibiting both within town boundaries..“Conversion therapy is a practice that aims to change an individual’s sexual orientation to hetero-sexual or gender identity to CIS-gender which means identifying with the sex assigned to them at birth,” said Sobal, during a council meeting..“It employs various approaches from talk therapy and medication to aversion therapy that attempts to condition a person’s behaviour by causing them discomfort through things like electric shocks when they’re exposed to specific stimuli.”.Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro has previously stated that the UCP government doesn’t see a need for additional legislation..“We don’t think there’s a need to address it specifically because it’s not a valid health service,” Shandro’s press secretary Steve Buick said in a statement to the Edmonton Journal last May..The “service”, though, has not generally been provided by registered social workers or health service providers..Pam Rocker, an LBGTQ advocate in Calgary, posted a list of “churches, universities and organizations” on social media that offer ‘treatment’ for homosexuals..“Conversion therapy is alive and well… in Alberta,” Rocker wrote on Twitter..Conversion therapy is strongly opposed by the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Canadian Psychiatric Association, but opposition doesn’t stop non-regulated organizations from providing it..For the most part, the courses or classes are called something else – in the past it would be to avoid stigmatization but, in the future, it could be to avoid breaking the law..“The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement in 2012 saying this type of therapy poses a severe threat to the health and human rights of the affected persons,” Sobol said..“In the United States, 19 states and 1 district have laws or regulations protecting youth from this harmful practice as well as at least 60 cities and countries and other states have enacted similar protections.”.Sobol noted Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia all have provincial legislation in place and the legislation varies. Ontario has banned the practice, Manitoba regulates health professionals from offering it, and Nova Scotia has prohibited the practice only for minors..“In our very own province, Edmonton, Sherwood Park and the City of St. Albert have all enacted bylaws which ban the practice and promotion of conversion therapy within municipal limits. Other municipalities including Spruce Grove, Fort McMurray and Calgary are in the process of drafting bylaws,” Sobol said..Advocates in Lethbridge have also managed to get the proposition in front of City of Lethbridge council who will be debating a potential ban during Monday’s council meeting..“For myself, I consider this proposed bylaw to be one dealing with very basic human rights; to suggest a person’s sexual orientation should be considered a curable disease or a mental disorder, one that requires therapy to ‘fix the problem’ is both archaic, dangerous and very misguided,” Sobol said..“My desire with this motion is to enact a bylaw that very clearly demonstrates our community is not okay with this type of activity and to urge both our provincial and federal government to take appropriate action to ban this practice.”.Deirdre is the Senior News Reporter for the Western Standard..story ideas? dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com, @Mitchell_AB on Twitter
