By: Priya Migneault It's been over two weeks since the City of Calgary banned conversion therapy in a historic 14-1 vote. The city made this ban law at the beginning of Pride month (June) and we wanted to know what Calgarians thought. This past week I interviewed two different individuals, who live in Calgary, and they had very similar thoughts about this topic. El (they/them) says, "It's good that conversion therapy has been banned." "The practice is obviously harmful, especially to LGBTQ+ youth who have to go through it," they say, "but even LGBTQ+ youth who have not experienced it can be damaged (emotionally) by living under the constant threat of conversion therapy." El is confident that this is a step in the right direction, however they believe that more action should be taken to protect LGBTQ+ individuals by both municipal and provincial legislation. Jenna, a queer activist, says she was fairly shocked to find out that the practice of conversion therapy had not previously been banned around the time same sex marriage was legalized. "I'm happy it's banned... I think it's good for the LGBTQIAP2S+ community for sure, but (it) seems overdue," she says, "Hopefully kids growing up now won't have to go through that and will feel safer coming out in Calgary." Throughout this past week, I've had conversations around Calgary's ban on conversion therapy with numerous individuals, off the record, and almost all have said, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT STILL EXISTS." For the most part Calgarians seem pleased with the vote and are happy to embrace a city without conversion therapy. Also, Happy Pride Month everyone!
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December 2022
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