AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

March 2, 2019

Issue

Allegheny County Councilman is Poised to Introduce a Ban on Talk Therapy for Minors

Details

During the Tuesday, March 5th meeting of the Allegheny County Council, Council President John DeFazio will introduce Bill # 11000-19.  If passed, it will amend the “Health and Sanitation” code of the Allegheny County Code by creating a new Chapter 540 entitled “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conversion Therapy.”  This new ordinance would ban talk therapy for minors with unwanted same-sex attraction – leaving them trapped with these feelings.

The LGBT activists pushing these ordinances misrepresent what this therapy does, painting it as using harmful methods such as electric shock treatment or describing it as attempting to “Pray away the gay.”  That is why they use the term “conversion therapy,”  instead of reparative therapy or talk therapy. 

Such bans are wrong on many levels:  it takes away the rights of parents to seek help for their child who is struggling with these unwanted feelings, it prohibits the child from having access to the needed help – trapping them with these feelings, and it takes away the First Amendment rights of the therapists themselves!

Action Steps

  1.  Contact County Council and let them know you oppose this attack on the county’s children. 
  2. Plan to attend the Tuesday March 5th meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the Gold Room on the 4th floor of the Allegheny County Courthouse (436 Grant Street, Pittsburgh).  If you would like to express your concerns during this meeting, you will be given three minutes at the beginning of the meeting.  However, you must contact them with your intentions to speak by 5:00 p.m. Monday evening!    You can use the online request form here     If you want help with talking points, contact the AFA of PA.  It would also be a good idea to call them at (412) 350-6490 to confirm that they received the request.   Note:  speakers are limited to those living in or who pay taxes in Allegheny County.    You will also have to pass through security, so allow some extra time.
  3. Feel free to forward this email to others in Allegheny County.
  4. Pray for this situation.