The Waterloo City Council voted to repeal a counseling ban it passed earlier this year. The council passed a so-called “conversion therapy ban” three months ago, but repealed it by a 4-3 vote on Monday night.
The ban would have prohibited licensed healthcare professionals from providing help for minors struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity — unless the confusion was affirmed.
Steve Simon, who is running for the Waterloo City Council, said the original ordinance shouldn’t have passed in the first place.
“We should not be getting between children, parents and their health professionals,” Simon said. “Divisive national politics have no place in our city government. Thankfully, the city council used good reasoning to avoid a crippling lawsuit, knowing that there are state laws to protect abused children.”
Simon is running a campaign focused on putting families first and keeping those “national divisive politics” out of Waterloo’s government.
According to a release sent by Simon’s campaign, members of the council and the mayor confirmed the city was facing a potential lawsuit due to the counseling ban.
Simon said he will continue to run a campaign to unify families and commonsense issues pertinent to city business — like fiscal responsibility and supporting first responders.
“Instead of causing more division in the community, we should be focused on things that unify us like keeping our neighborhoods safe, our streets clean and spending tax money wisely,” he said.
