The Oklahoma House State Powers moved to pass a new bill Wednesday morning that would retroactively legalize the practice of conversion therapy on 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in the state. The bill passed with a vote of 5-1, with District 77 Representative John Waldron (D-Tulsa) being the only opposition, and the bill will now be heard by the house floor.
House Bill 2973, also known as the Parental and Family Rights in Counseling Protection Act, was authored by District 2 State Representative Jim Olsen (R-Roland). If enshrined into law, the bill would not allow the prohibition of “sexual orientation change efforts” or “gender dysphoria resolution efforts” in the state. The act would also allow mental health or religious advisors to provide counseling on sexual orientation changes and gender dysphoria without any prohibition or restriction from state or political authorities.
The bill defined sexual orientation change efforts and gender dysphoria resolution efforts as any counseling that seeks to stop sexual or romantic attractions towards people of the same sex and efforts to change gender-identity expressions. Conversion therapy is generally considered to be any practice or treatment working to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity to be heterosexual and cisgender.
OU human relations professor Sage Mauldin said Rep. Olsen was elected into a “powerful position” and is now “saying to our faces that he supports child abuse.” Mauldin tweeted on Monday saying he was exchanging emails with Olsen about the bill. Olsen did not respond to The Daily’s requests for a statement.
“This bill is a violation of people's rights, and it's also a violation of children's safety in particular,” Mauldin said.
Former Ward 3 Norman City councilmember Alison Petrone also criticized Olsen’s bill.
“I can’t imagine being the author of a bill as heinous as this,” Petrone said. “I would encourage everyone … to express their disgust that Representative Olsen is even considering writing child abuse into Oklahoma law.”
In 2019, Mauldin submitted legislation to ban conversion therapy for minors in Oklahoma while serving on the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. He advocated this through House Bill 2456, which was sponsored by District 88 Representative Jason Dunnington (D-Oklahoma City). However, Mauldin said they decided to not move forward with the bill because it would not receive enough support in the house.
In June of 2021, Norman City Council unanimously voted to amend a city ordinance by adding a definition of conversion therapy and partially banning the practice on minors. Mauldin said he worked closely with PFLAG, Norman Pride and Petrone on the legislation and helped urge city council to ban conversion therapy for minors. Norman was the first city in the state to pass an ordinance like this.
Petrone and Michael Robertson, PFLAG Norman chapter president and LGBTQ+ liasion to the city executive for the city of Norman, said HB 2973 can undo the hard work and progression accomplished in Norman and would be an enormous step backward. Petrone said the partial ban was supported by both liberals and conservatives in Norman.
“Even conservatives here are very outspoken about their disgust with conversion therapy because, again, the numbers are documented,” Petrone said. “It's a dangerous practice.”
Petrone said the law in Norman protects children and parents from unknowingly interacting with people who offer conversion therapy. Children and parents can report these practices to the city, but if this bill passed, those protections would be gone, Petrone said.
Olsen said the bill could supersede the Norman ordinance if it passes. During the meeting, he denied the legality of the ban in Norman, saying it “takes away the free speech and free choice rights of individuals.”
Mauldin said he understands the harm conversion therapy does because he is a survivor of conversion therapy, and he believes all forms of conversion therapy are child abuse.
“(Conversion therapy) is deeply rooted in shame, causing LGBTQ+ kids to feel shameful for who they are, which is unchangeable,” Mauldin said. “It is deeply traumatizing to kids, and the trauma that LGBTQ+ kids are subjected to through conversion therapy stays with them for the rest of their lives.”
During the meeting on Wednesday, Olsen opened by stating the bill is not about whether or not conversion or “change therapy” is good or bad but more about allowing the option, should parents seek it for their children.
“House Bill 2973 is a bill of liberty, freedom and choice. It deals with, most especially, young people perhaps who've experimented with homosexuality and decide they want a different path for their life,” Olsen said. “The great question before us is, do we believe in freedom of speech and freedom of choice?”
Olsen said this bill was in response to fears that President Joseph Biden’s administration would ban conversion therapy. Freedom Oklahoma, a political advocacy organization, tweeted in response to Olsen’s claims, saying it is dangerous to frame conversion therapy as a choice in this legislation.
According to the National Center for Lesbian’s Rights Born Perfect campaign, 20 states and over 100 cities in the U.S. have banned conversion therapy. Major health corporations have also condemned and discredited conversion therapy, citing research showing how it does not work and instead creates more trauma and mental health struggles for 2SLGBTQ+ people.
The American Medical Association said conversion therapy practices “may increase suicidal behaviors and cause significant psychological distress, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, internalized homophobia, self-blame, intrusive imagery and sexual dysfunction.”
The Trevor Project reported a study where only 3 percent of participants who had gone through conversion therapy became heterosexual, with 88 percent of participants having no lasting changes to their sexuality or behavior. A study at the Williams Institute at University of California-Los Angeles School of Law found people who went through conversion therapy are twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to people who have not.
Petrone said she is very concerned for youth and parents in Oklahoma, especially those in Norman. She said conversion therapy is not therapy of any kind, as this abuse involves both physical and mental torturing of 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
“It tells a person that their natural inclination to be in a same-sex relationship, that that's wrong, and they are broken,” Petrone said. “The impact of that lasts for the rest of your life.”
Included in the bill is a section describing how “aversion therapy” is not condoned under this act. The bill described aversion therapy as exposing or asking a person to “undergo physical pain, such as electroshock or electroconvulsive therapy, touch therapy, pornography exposure or vomit-induction therapy.”
Robertson said it is frustrating the bill mentions not justifying aversion therapy but mentions nothing about preventing the practice. He’s had conversations with parents who misunderstand banning conversion therapy to mean kids struggling with their sexuality or gender shouldn’t see counseling of any kind. This is not the case, he said.
“I would recommend counseling to anyone that is struggling with their identity, however, a therapy designed to stop someone from discovering that identity is not the answer,” Robertson said.
Caroline Sparks, a public relations and sociology senior, said the mere presence of this bill is an act of violence on 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
“(The bill) is going to have an effect and an impact on people if it is passed, but just the fact that it has been brought up has an effect,” Sparks said. “It means that there are people in our state who believe in these practices.”
The Gender + Equality Center at OU gave a statement to The Daily, writing the center supports people of all sexual and gender identities, and they will be monitoring this legislation to determine what effects, if any, it would have on campus-based programs.
Outside of the emotional pain and violation of rights for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Mauldin said the state of Oklahoma will see a ripple effect if this bill is enshrined, as businesses will be deterred from opening in the state. Mauldin said OU and other universities will face a direct hit because of the way the National Collegiate Athletic Association could perceive the state.
“The NCAA is very much committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. A bill like this is completely antithetical to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Mauldin said. “It’s completely anathema to any organization, to any business or to any person in power who values people’s rights.”
The NCAA announced in April of 2021 that it will not hold championship events in states that discriminate against the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The association made this threat in response to outcries about the legality and fairness of trans athletes in college sports.
“A lot of this is steeped in bigotry and ignorance. Conversion therapy absolutely does not work,” Daryl Callaway, treasurer at Norman Pride, said. “It being put into law at the state level really tells everybody within the LGBTQ+ community in Oklahoma that we are second-class citizens.”
Both Callaway and Robertson expressed how they understand the fear 2SLGBTQ+ people and youth must be feeling, but they reiterated there still are communities in Oklahoma who support them. Mauldin said he tries to remain optimistic despite everything he has been through as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
“I'm deeply committed to fighting for queer liberation in the state of Oklahoma. I can't do that if, if I'm operating from a place of pessimism,” Mauldin said. “I have to always tell myself that one day, we're going to have an Oklahoma where people are safe.”
Sparks said she aims to remind 2SLGBTQ+ people they have people in their corner, even if their family or religions are trying to change them. Sparks said supporting one another goes beyond a bill.
“Truly and deeply caring for another human is not exercising power in hopes of changing who they are … this love is safety and comfort,” Sparks said. “It is committing to help create a world in which your loved one can thrive. It’s bigger than the law.”
