SW News: A federal appeals court on Thursday invalidated Tampa, Florida's restriction on initiatives to change people's sexual orientation, a decision that supporters of religious liberty are hailing as a triumph for the First Amendment.
In a legal battle over the city's ban on counselors offering voluntary therapy to minors seeking assistance with unwanted same-sex attractions, a three-judge panel on the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Tampa-based family therapist Robert Vazzo and the Christian ministry New Hearts Outreach Tampa Bay. Critics refer to this type of therapy as "conversion therapy," while supporters argue that outlawing it would violate the First Amendment rights of both counselors and patients.
Citing an earlier 11th Circuit decision in Otto v. City of Boca Raton, the court stated in Vazzo v. Tampa that "city and county statutes restricting sexual orientation change efforts ('SOCE') were unconstitutional under the First Amendment."
A comparable Boca Raton, Florida ordinance was the subject of the Otto lawsuit. Despite the fact that Thursday's verdict was unanimous, Judge Robin Rosenbaum, who was appointed by Obama, stated that she still thought "Otto was unjustly decided."
At the same time, she concurred with her Republican-appointed colleagues Ed Carnes and Barbara Lagoa in finding in favour of the plaintiffs because "we are obligated by our prior-panel-precedent rule to apply Otto here."
The conservative Christian legal organization Liberty Counsel, representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, called the ruling a “great victory for counselors and their clients. Counselors and clients have the freedom to choose the counsel of their choice and be free of political censorship from government-mandated speech.”
 Thursday’s ruling comes after the city appealed the district court decision.
Bans on sexual orientation change efforts have become more common in recent years. Over the years, the US Supreme Court has declined to hear challenges to such bans.