Green Bay committee deadlocks, forwards conversion-therapy resolution without recommendation

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Protection & Policy Committee on Monday, June 16, 2025, deadlocked 2-2 on a motion to refer a staff-drafted resolution opposing the practice of conversion therapy to the Common Council, leaving the item before the council without a formal committee recommendation.

The resolution — requested by Alder Presley and Alder DeLee — was proposed as a public policy statement while a separate ordinance effort remains on hold because of pending litigation in another part of the state involving the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. "I'd like to see our city showing with this resolution that we are not in support of that practice in the city," Alder Presley said.

The measure's supporters cited scientific and medical opposition to conversion therapy. "I work in the healthcare field," Alder Morgan said, citing the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as scientific authorities, and saying a resolution would publicly signal the city's position while litigation proceeds.

Opponents urged caution because of the ongoing court case. The City Attorney explained the legal difference between a resolution and an ordinance: "It's just a resolution that makes a policy statement or a community statement," the attorney said, adding that litigation outcomes could later prompt ordinance action.

After debate the committee recorded a 2-2 tie. The chair announced the result: the item will be forwarded to the Common Council without a committee recommendation. Committee members were divided on whether to wait for resolution of related litigation in La Crosse before taking action.

The Common Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday, June 24, at 6 p.m.; committee members noted the council may discuss the item further and may or may not pull it for debate. The committee's vote Monday was explicitly a recommendation to the Common Council, not a final local policy change.