Milwaukee County Board Seeks Resolution Opposing Conversion Therapy

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on Thursday will consider a resolution seeking the condemnation of conversion therapy across the county and opposing public or private funding for the controversial form of therapy.

The resolution seeks the county’s mental health board to adopt a formal policy that would keep conversion therapy from being conducted across the county. The resolution defines conversation therapy as any practices or treatments offered that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

It also seeks to prohibit counseling or other therapy that attempts to change a person’s behaviors or gender expressions or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feeling toward another person of the same gender.

If passed, supervisors will be seeking for the Milwaukee County Director of the Department of Health and Human Services to present the resolution to the mental health board that could be used to adopt a county-wide policy opposing the use of conversion therapy.

In a statement issued earlier this month, District 15 Supervisor Peter Burgelis and District 10 Supervisor Marcelia Nicholson issued a joint statement after the county’s Human Needs and Strategic Planning Committee approved a resolution opposing conversion therapy.

“Conversion ‘therapy’ is a harmful and ineffective practice that is based on the false assumption that sexual orientation or gender identity is a defect that can be changed or ‘cured’, which is not supported by any credible scientific evidence," Burgelis said. "Milwaukee County has a responsibility to promote the mental health and well-being of all its residents."

The resolution mirrors policy previously adopted by Appleton, Cudahy, Eau Claire, Glendale, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, the City of Milwaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Shorewood, Sun Prairie, Superior, and West Allis, county officials said.

"I stand wholeheartedly with our LGBTQ community across Milwaukee and beyond,” Nicholson said. “Conversion therapy is a cruel and ineffective attempt to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity, and it has no place in our society. We must fight for equity and inclusion for all people, regardless of their race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Let us stand together in solidarity and continue to push for a world where everyone is accepted and celebrated for who they are."

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin legislature blocked licensing rules banning conversion therapy. While the practice is widely discredited by health and mental health professionals Republicans earlier this year voted to keep a statewide ban on conversion therapies from going into effect.

In 2021, Republicans on the Joint Committee For Review of Administrative Rules voted to allowed licensed therapists to use conversion therapy by suspending the rule that allows it, Wisconsin Public Radio previously reported. That action lapsed in December of 2022 before the legislation voted by a 6-4 measure to lifted the ban on a temporary basis.