Otto v. City of Boca Raton

Brief Filed: 6/19
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 
Year of Decision: 2020

Read full-text amicus brief (PDF, 3.5MB)

Involves a challenge to laws in Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida, banning mental health providers from engaging in conversion therapy with minor patients.

Sexual Orientation

Numerous jurisdictions have banned the practice by mental health professions of sexual orientation change efforts, often relying on APA's 2009 APA Task Force Report on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (PDF, 1MB)opens in new window and the 2009 APA Council Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts, both of which conclude that there is insufficient evidence these efforts can be effective and significant evidence of harm to patients.

APA's brief confirms the findings of the 2009 APA Task Force Report and the 2009 Council Resolution that sexual orientation change efforts have not been shown to be effective or safe. In addition, the brief 1) defends the integrity of the selection process from members of the Task Force who produced the Report; 2) explains the methodology used in the research review that was undertaken; 3) explains the difference between evaluating evidence of effectiveness of treatment and assessing the risk of harm; and 4) advises the court of appeals of the results of a review of relevant research that has been published since the 2009 Task Force Report, noting its consistency with the conclusions of the Task Force.

On November 20, 2020, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two local ordinances intended to protect minors from potentially harmful efforts by licensed mental health providers to change their sexual orientation. The majority of the three-judge panel concluded that “speech-based therapy” is not medical conduct but merely expression of a viewpoint, and regulation of a viewpoint is presumptively unconstitutional.