TALLAHASSEE — Florida has taken initial steps to ban the decades-old practice of conversion therapy, which is designed to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through treatment yet is often cited as a reason for higher rates of teen suicide among LGBT youth.

A Senate bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) last December that would ban licensed therapists in Florida from using the treatment went before the legislature’s health policy committee last month.

Companion legislation was initiated in the House by state Representative David Richardson (D-Miami Beach), Florida’s first openly gay elected official. But Richardson’s bill only applies to conversion therapy offered by licensed professionals. Religious and other non-professional organizations would not be affected.

“Research (by the American Psychological Association) shows that sexuality and sexual orientation isn’t so much a choice as it is a state,” said licensed psychologist Dr. Steve Pittman, executive vice president of Meridian Behavioral Healthcare in Gainesville. “Sexuality really is on a continuum.”

Other studies show that LGBT minors are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, according to the Trevor Project, a national group providing crisis counseling for LGBT youth.

“The Trevor Project is a fabulous resource because they specifically look at the entirety of the population,” Pittman said. “Any licensed professional who would be rendering that kind of therapy would be opening themselves up to a malpractice claim.”

Parents’ rights organizations oppose the legislation. They claim laws like those passed in California and New Jersey violate a parent’s right to choose what is best for their child.

Follow