Calgary city councillors approved a draft bylaw banning the practice of conversion therapy in the city.
After nearly two full days of hearing public submissions, councillors unanimously approved the bylaw. It now requires approval at a full meeting of council.
A total of 121 members of the public signed up to speak on the bylaw. People from both sides of the issues dialed into the virtual meeting to have their say.
Written public submissions had totaled more than 1,100 at the beginning of the meeting. That was the count when the final was put together at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. More have since come in and will be included in a new package.
Experts on various topics, individuals with personal stories, and plenty of faith and non-faith driven organization affiliates provided their opinions arguing both for and against the proposed bylaw.
Members from Journey Canada, Calgary Pride, Free to Care, Affirming Connections, and various churches and LGBTQ2S+ communities around the city were all represented.
Keith Murray of Hillhurst United Church lent their perspective on behalf of survivors of conversion therapy, advocating for the bylaw’s passage.
“It is the worst kind of torture because they coerce you into inflicting it on yourself,” they said in their public submission.
Public submissions took hours
After almost two days of public testimonies, council members took to debate.
Though Couns. Joe Magliocca and Sean Chu contested some of the language in the bylaw, it remained unchanged.
Coun. Gian Carlo Carra, committee chair, said the city got the bylaw it wanted.
“This is the bylaw we asked for. It’s exactly what we asked for,” he said
“We better ban conversion therapy because the amount of people who came out to try and defend those kinds of practices is reprehensible in this day and age.”
The bylaw went to vote and was unanimously passed. It will be heard at a full city council meeting.
