South Carolina Subcommittee Advances Anti-LGBTQ Bill, Seeking to Sanction ‘Conversion Therapy’

Lawmakers amended and advanced S.811 to preempt communities from passing local laws protecting youth from anti-LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy.’  

COLUMBIA, SC – Today a subcommittee of the South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted to amend and advance S.811 after hearing the bill for the third time in less than a year. The amended bill attempts to restrict local governments from passing policies that regulate medical providers’ “right of conscience.” It is widely seen as an effort to preempt municipalities in South Carolina from passing local ordinances that prohibit licensed therapists from subjecting minors to ‘conversion therapy,’ the dangerous anti-LGBTQ practice of purporting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Techniques involve rejection, shame, and psychological abuse and can range from extreme electroshock treatments or institutionalization to “counseling” services based on pseudoscience. 

The city of Columbia passed such an ordinance in the summer of 2021. 

Hundreds of South Carolinians have rallied against S.811 since its introduction last legislative session. The original text of the bill would have granted medical providers a broad “license to discriminate” based on their personal or religious beliefs, which could negatively impact LGBTQ people, women, people of color, and people of diverse faith backgrounds. The bill was so broadly defined so as to allow doctors, nurses, receptionists and other employees to refuse to admit or offer services to patients in need of care in any non-emergency situation. 

SC United for Justice & Equality, a coalition of more than 30 organizations committed to LGBTQ equality in SC, condemned the passage of the amended S.811 today. Holly Whitfield, Executive Director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, spoke on behalf of the SC United coalition. She said:

“Last year Columbia did the right thing by protecting LGBTQ minors from so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ which is extremely dangerous and has led far too many young people to experiencing depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, and even suicide. By advancing this amended bill, state lawmakers are sanctioning this abusive practice – a practice that has been rejected by every leading medical and mental health association in the country. We need to be supporting our LGBTQ youth, affirming them and letting them know that they are loved, respected, and worthy of dignity just as they are. This bill does the opposite, putting a rubber-stamp on efforts to shame and erase LGBTQ young people. The full committee must vote no on this anti-LGBTQ attack.”

In the United States, 20 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now prohibit ‘conversion therapy,’ while an executive order in North Carolina prohibits state funding of providers. Columbia’s ordinance protecting minors from ‘conversion therapy’ was the first of its kind in South Carolina but joined dozens of similar local ordinances nationwide. An estimated 700,000 Americans have endured “conversion therapy” in their lifetime, with half of these receiving the treatment as minors.

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SC United for Justice and Equality envisions a South Carolina where everyone can thrive, with a focus on the lived and legal equality of LGBTQ people. The coalition advocates for the passage of legislation to protect LGBTQ community members and opposes anti-LGBTQ legislation. The coalition also works on intersecting issues of social justice, including racial justice, reproductive justice, voting rights, and health care access.  www.southcarolinaunited.org