By AlaskaWatchman.com

Counseling ban

The City of Tampa recently forked over nearly $1 million in a legal settlement after a U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a city ordinance banning “talk therapy” for minors with unwanted same-sex attraction was unconstitutional. The $950,000 settlement was brought by two licensed therapists in Florida.

Like a 2020 ordinance passed by the Anchorage Assembly, the Tampa law outlawed counselors from offering any voluntary talk therapy to minors who wished to reduce or overcome unwanted sexual attractions to members of the same sex.

Essentially, the court ruled that banning certain ideas from being discussed during therapy was an unlawful regulation of speech.

Last month, the Tampa City Council approved the $950,000 settlement to Liberty Counsel, a legal group that helped argue the case on behalf of the counselors.

“Counselors and clients now have the freedom to choose the counsel of their choice and be free of political censorship from government-mandated speech as a result of this victory,” Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, stated after the settlement. “The government has no business eavesdropping inside the counseling rooms, and the city has no authority to enact a local counseling regulation. Any city that tries to enact such a ban will face the same consequences.”

In Anchorage, however, a prohibition on talk therapy remains in place. The hard-left Anchorage Assembly passed the ban on a 9-2 vote back in 2020, after repeated warnings during public comment periods that the ordinance violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections.

The Anchorage ordinance does not, however, limit counselors and therapists from encouraging minors to explore their same-sex attractions or even to consider undergoing permanent surgeries or taking powerful cross-sex chemicals and puberty blockers to “transition” to the opposite sex.

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Court blocks Anchorage-like law in Florida that bans counseling for kids with unwanted same-sex attraction

Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 24 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.


11 Comments

  • DaveMaxwell says:

    How about we arrest dunleavy and force him down on a gurney and roll him back into the transition room and inject hormones in him. Would that be different than what his administration did to Mary Fulp? As we deteriorate in society and our elected leaders don’t resist, the dialogue naturally begins to reflect it! I strongly suggest dunleavy start paying attention!

  • Neil A DeWitt says:

    I think someone needs to take Anchorage assembly to court over this. Only thing you’ll never find a judge to hear the case. like the 9-2 vote to implement laws to stop our first Ammendment rights the judges will all side with the liberals and find for them regardless. It’s a very very sad situation. We need the federal government to step in and clean house in Anchorage.

  • Proud Alaskan says:

    Get out of Anchorage while you can before the assembly puts police officers at every road leaving
    anchorage north or south. It’s the Anchorage woke agenda public transportation, high-density housing,
    electric stoves and electric cars only.
    We own you, You will bow down to us the woke, gay assembly we’re in charge now. No food for you!

  • North to Alaska says:

    Too bad we didn’t have a governor that leads and could work towards electing good conservatives and pass legislation that we actually want.

  • Lucinda says:

    Y’all talk big about freedom and liberty but hypocritically ask government to meddle in women’s rights, gay attraction, school standards.

    I heard a liberal congressperson on NPR say that three things define republicans: disregard facts, embrace hypocrisy as a virtue and don’t feel any shame. Spot on.

    • HomeschoolersToldYa says:

      euphemisms for infanticide, child abuse, and poverty. The hubrus of a group that continues to force trauma on women and children through abortion, human trafficking, sexual grooming and mutilation. The scary part, is you do it with a smile.

  • DaveMaxwell says:

    What the hell type of response is “it’s too bad” fight or flight! Two options for you! Choose one!

  • jon says:

    High schoolers get unwanted attraction. If the person that is attracted to them bothers them they should be able to see a counselor. It shouldn’t matter the sex of the person who is bothering them.