HORRIFYING

Trump-Appointed Judges Rule in Favor of Allowing LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy

Trump-appointed judges Britt C. Grant and Barbara Lagoa said that banning LGBTQ+ conversion therapy would “violate the First Amendment.”

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday in favor of allowing LGBTQ+ conversion therapy in south Florida because banning it would “violate the First Amendment,” according to Forbes. “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable,” Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Britt Grant wrote in the 2-1 decision. The ruling pertained to two laws in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County that prevented therapists from using such therapies. Conversion therapy, which is the process of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has been linked to depression, suicide, anxiety, social isolation and decreased capacity for intimacy, according to an analysis from Cornell University. “There is no credible evidence that sexual orientation can be changed through therapeutic intervention,” the university found.