Florida county and city to pay fees in ‘conversion therapy’ fight

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge this week ordered Palm Beach County and the city of Boca Raton to pay nearly $737,000 in legal fees and costs after an appeals court blocked bans on the controversial practice known as “conversion therapy.”

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U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg approved a magistrate’s recommendation to award $736,227 in attorney fees and $659 in costs to lawyers who represented marriage and family therapists Robert Otto and Julie Hamilton in a challenge to the constitutionality of ordinances that banned conversion therapy.

Rosenberg’s order Wednesday said the county and city will share the payments.

Read: LGBTQ advocates criticize ‘alarming’ bills filed for Florida’s 2024 legislative session

The ordinances barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity.

Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

But a federal appeals court said the ordinances violated the rights of therapists who want to provide such treatment or counseling.

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