TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - On Thursday, Cincinnati became the first city in Ohio to ban conversion or reparative therapy on minors, a practice which aims to change a person's sexual orientation.
Under Cincinnati's new ordinance, no licensed medical professional can perform any type of conversion therapy on a minor. If one does attempt to perform the controversial therapy, a $200-a-day fine will be imposed.
It's a treatment that experts like licensed clinical counselor Erin Wiley find increasingly outdated.
"If an adult comes to me and wants therapy, they have the ability to ask for whatever they want," she said. "But when parents are potentially pressing an agenda on their child and they want a therapist to do something specific in therapy for that child because it's their (the parents') desire, it makes therapy difficult. It's really not healthy for kids."
Wiley also says that she honors her professional organizations' stance on the issue.
"The American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association both don't support reparative therapy, mostly because we take the point of view that someone's sexual orientation is not considered a sickness, a disease, or an abnormality. We just treat the person with whatever orientation they come to us with without the goal of changing it," she said.
"I think that we have seen that Toledo is very progressive on LGBT issues and I'm sure that it would continue with the election of our current mayor. City council has by and far been overwhelmingly supportive of the LGBT community. So I absolutely think it would pass in Toledo if it was introduced," he said.
And while this type of therapy typically does not occur in the open, experts say it still happens, and could possibly be in our area.
"Many people don't realize that it still occurs. Cincinnati took it up specifically because there was a transgender individual who committed suicide as a result of what happened. It's really tragic, both for the family and the community, and we'd definitely not like to see that happen here," said Komives. "I do think that (conversion therapy) may be happening in the area, though I'm not exactly sure of who's doing it. But I think it's really important to note that every single major mental health organization in the nation has said that this practice does not convert people the way that they say that it does, and that it actually causes more harm to the individual than good."
And Wiley agrees.
"I know there's counselors who still do it; they're certainly difficult to find because it seems to be falling out of fashion as we become more evolved and educated and understand what sexual orientation is and how it's really just a part of who we are and it's not something that we choose," said Wiley. "So the more medical and scientific and psychological information we have is leading to it becoming less popular because we're beginning to understand it's something that you can't or don't change about a person."
Wiley also says while conversion therapy has been banned in a few other states, including California, New Jersey, Illinois and Oregon, she's surprised that Cincinnati took their own stance as a city and hopes the entire state of Ohio follows suit.
"I do think it would be great to see something like this passed across the state of Ohio, because I believe it protects children," she said.
And though Wiley is a self-identified Christian, that does not change her perspective on conversion therapy.
"I personally identify as a Christian, but when I'm at work, I'm a therapist first. If I'm treating someone who's Jewish, I'm not going to push my religion on them because it wouldn't be helpful to usually what they're here for, which are often non-religious things like depression, anxiety, help with their marriage," she said. "As a Christian counselor, I feel like it's my job to love and affirm my clients, help them figure out what they're struggling with and help them find the best way to handle it."
Komives says he's hopeful that if not the entire state of Ohio, at least Toledo could soon follow suit.
"When I saw that Cincinnati passed it I was definitely hopeful that it can continue elsewhere. Until (Ohio) does it statewide, I think that cities really have to take the lead on this and say 'Ok, we know that the research proves that this is wrong and it actually causes more harm to the lives of LGBT people. We care about our LGBT citizens in this city, they work amongst us and are part of our family, and so we're going to make sure that they're safe, and one way we can do that is by ensuring conversion therapy does not occur,'" he said.
Earlier this year, the White House said it supported banning conversion practices on the nation's youth. Equality Toledo also took steps toward publicly participating in denouncing the issue over the summer.
"There was a bill in the Ohio State House to ban conversion therapy statewide, and we collected signatures from citizens in the area to send to members of the legislature in support of banning conversion therapy," said Komives.
Komives described the practice as "widely debunked," and offered this perspective for those who are interested in understanding more about the issue:
"Imagine, as a straight person, somebody saying to you, 'Well, it's possible for you to become gay, right?' This is what we're talking about. It's very simple, it's definitely a ludicrous idea and notion and it shouldn't be practiced," he said.
In the meantime, Equality Toledo remains hopeful that a ban in northwest Ohio could be in the near future.