Conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people is now banned in Cuyahoga County after council unanimously passed the measure, becoming the first county in Ohio to do so.

LGBTQ+ advocates say conversion therapy, the practice of attempting to alter a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, is harmful to youth. A 2020 study from the American Journal of Public Health found that LGBTQ+ minors who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide.

"Our youth deserve to know that they are seen, that they're loved and worthy of that love, and that our local government has their safety and wellbeing in mind," Elizabeth Katavich, who works at the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland, said at Tuesday's meeting. "It matters because there are countless adults

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