The city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, passed a new bylaw barring counseling services for people seeking help with unwanted sexual attractions and gender confusion, often derisively referred to as “conversion therapy.”
According to GlobalNews.ca, earlier this month a committee recommended to the city council that a new bylaw be implemented to prohibit such counseling as a business, and forbid the advertising of the counseling with potential penalties that include a year in prison or a $10,000 fine.
The measure passed after a day of debate in a 14-1 vote.
The lone vote against the bylaw, Councillor Joe Magliocca, originally supported it but voted against the final version following the rejection of a proposed amendment to word the measure with language that more closely mirrored a proposed federal ban.
“With this, the City of Calgary initiates new regulations to protect Calgarians, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, to continue to be a city that is welcoming for all, committed to supporting equality and human rights,” the city said in a statement following the bylaw’s passage.
During the day of debate, proponents of the ban used the Restored Hope Network’s Hope 2019 conference in one of their documentaries in order to push the ban. The Restored Hope Network is a U.S.-based Christian ministry serving those with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender confusion.
Anne Paulk, who heads RHN, told The Christian Post Wednesday that the term “conversion therapy” is consistently used to obfuscate the issue and that the measure is unfair to those who are seeking help.
“It is not loving to ban belief and compassionate care for those who have unwanted same-sex attraction or unwanted gender dysphoria. Those who seek support should be able to find it. And yet, banning belief and compassionate care is exactly what recently happened in Calgary, Canada,” Paulk said.
“The government does not seem to care that some want to be gay or trans and others do not. The others be condemned.”
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Brandon Showalter
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