The City Council finds:
(a) That being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is part of the natural spectrum of human identity and is not a disease, disorder, illness, deficiency, or shortcoming that requires a cure or correction.
(b) Major medical, mental health, and child welfare professional associations, including the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Psychiatric Association have denounced and rejected
as ineffective, unreliable, and unsafe.
(c)
leads to critical health risks and inequities including anxiety, depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness, self-harm, and suicide.
(d) Minors and vulnerable adults are especially vulnerable to the harms associated with
and lack the ability to make decisions about their own medical and mental health.
(e) The city has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors and vulnerable adults and in protecting them against exposure to the serious harms caused by the practice of
.
(f) It is necessary for the City Council to exercise its legislative power to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the city's minors and vulnerable adults.
(g) The purpose of this article is to protect the physical and psychological well-being of minors and vulnerable adults from exposure to the serious harms caused by
.
(Ord. 2021-3, passed 4-19-2021, effective 1-3-2022)