By Alejandro Acosta
HIV Advocacy Project Coordinator

On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners rejected a proposed ban on conversion therapy, a harmful practice I can speak to all too well. After 23 years in the conversion therapy and ex-gay world I tried everything to change my sexual orientation as a gay man, nothing worked. I was a respected "ex-gay" leader, an ordained minister, as well as the Executive Vice President of Exodus International and spoke out frequently about "change" and "freedom from homosexuality."

ORLANDO, FL — Today Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued new guidance that gives a “license to discriminate” to federal agencies, contractors and grantees seeking religious exemptions from federal laws, rules and regulations. 

Today, the Miami-Dade County Commission voted 4-7 against an ordinance that would ban so-called "conversion therapy." Equality Florida’s Senior Policy Director, Hannah Willard, provided the following statement: