Judge William Jung-Douchebag of the Day

In 2017, Tampa passed an ordinance that prohibited conversion therapy for children under 18. As they always do, Liberty Counsel and their perpetual “plaintiffs,” Las Vegas-based Robert Vazzo (not even a resident of Florida), and some David Pickup from Dallas with no license in Florida, filed a lawsuit to get the ordinance overturned. Thanks to Republican and Trump Appointee, Judge William Jung, they were finally successful.

However, Jung had to bend himself into some serious Gordian Knots of legal thinking to justify overturning the ordinance, and I decided to call him out on it. So, along with receiving our Doucebag Award, Judge Jung will also receive the following letter from me sometime this week.

Hon. William Jung
District Judge
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
801 North Florida Avenue, Chambers 1558
Tampa, Florida 33602

Dear Judge Jung:

I read parts of your recent ruling in the case related to The City of Tampa ordinance concerning “reparative therapy” for persons under 18. Let’s just be frank, dishonest and intentional ignorance was astounding.

A simple google search of Robert Vazzo will turn up his name in a number of similar cases filed by Liberty Counsel around the country. Mr. Vazzo lacked standing. He lives and practices in Las Vegas, Nevada, and at the start of the filing, he was not even licensed in Florida. Mr. Vazzo is, for all intents and purposes, a professional-client of the Liberty Counsel. Yet you allowed him standing. That sets the stage for your disregard of the facts of this case.

You wrote that the ordinance could interfere with patient privacy and parental rights without offering anything to support this claim. I can find nothing in the ordinance that would result in a loss of patient privacy. The bill might interfere with “parental rights,” as do many state, federal, and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances. We do not allow parents to unnecessarily place children in potentially harmful or dangerous circumstances, nor expose them to health-related treatments that are known to be quackery. So you’d never ever remove a child from their home or the custody of their parents, because that would certainly interfere directly with parental rights, correct Judge Jung?

And that brings us to the biggest whooper of your entire ruling. You claimed you were not convinced talk therapy designed to change gender or sexuality was harmful. You wrote, “No known study … has provided a comprehensive assessment of basic demographic information, psychosocial wellbeing, and religiosity, which would be required to understand the effectiveness, benefits and/or harm caused by conversion therapy.”

Somehow, you and your clerks missed the fact that every major medical and mental health organization in the U.S. has condemned such therapy as harmful and ineffective. Eighteen states have banned its use on minors, as have many cities and counties. Florida is not among those states. Conversion therapy for sexual orientation is now considered unethical by both The American Psychiatric Association and The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. But I’m sure you, your staff, and Liberty Counsel know better, right Judge Jung?

Let me cite just one study on the subject. The study conducted just last year by the Trevor project found thirty-nine percent of LGBTQ young people and more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth in the sample seriously considered suicide in the 12 months leading up to survey. Nearly one in five LGBTQ youth attempted suicide during that period, and one in three trans and nonbinary youth did.

But among those who had undergone conversion therapy, designed to turn LGBTQ people straight or cisgender, the rates of suicide attempts were twice as high. Forty-two percent of LGBTQ youth who had been through conversion therapy reported a suicide attempt in the previous year, and 57 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth did so.¹

The survey is the largest conducted to date on the mental health of LGBTQ young people. It included nearly 35,000 LGBTQ respondents between the ages of 13 and 24 from every state in the U.S. It was conducted between February 2 and September 30 of last year. How did you and your clerks manage to miss all this information?

While I understand you using the excuse about the State being the rightful authority to issue rules governing the provision of health services, often the state fails to properly protect its citizens, or ignores certain classes of citizens. The founders were wise enough to anticipate such problems, hence their bequeath to us a republic. Local authorities may always step in. By your logic, local building codes and zoning restrictions create the same “patchwork” of rules and regulations you claim is created by these types of ordinances. So, would you demolish local zoning and building code regulations?

To date, 18 states, the District of Columbia, and many cities have passed laws barring licensed therapists from subjecting minors to the practice. The Tampa ordinance is modeled on an City of Boca Raton ordinance which has been upheld. In fact, you’re the only judge who has given quarter to Liberty Counsel anywhere they’ve gone in the United States.

Good on you sir…you’ve just added to misery and suicide rates for LGBT children. Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of the Trevor Project pointed out, “It’s important to note that LGBTQ youth are not at higher risk of suicide because of their sexual orientation or gender identity — they are at a higher risk because they face harmful rejection and discrimination from friends, families, and communities that can make them feel their lives are worth less than their straight or cisgender peers.² But given that you are a Republican Trump appointee, sadly I find you bringing your personal prejudices into the courtroom no surprise. At least in future, try to use legal reasoning and false information that any yahoo like me can’t so easily debunk. I’d think it would embarrass most folks, but again, Republicans don’t show a lot of shame anymore.

Sincerely yours,

CC: Gina Grimes (She’s the Tampa City Attorney)

(I also included the list below in the letter, since he and his clerks couldn’t find any studies.)

Additional references to all those “No known study … has provided a comprehensive assessment of basic demographic information, psychosocial wellbeing, and religiosity, which would be required to understand the effectiveness, benefits and/or harm” caused by conversion therapy.”

“Parent-Initiated Sexual Orientation Change Efforts With LGBT Adolescents: Implications for Young Adult Mental Health and Adjustment,” Journal of Homosexuality, Ryan C, Toomey RB, Diaz RM, Russell ST, 2018 Nov 7.

“Association Between Recalled Exposure to Gender Identity Conversion Efforts and Psychological Distress and Suicide Attempts Among Transgender Adults,” JAMA Psychiatry, Jack L. Turban, MD, MHS; Noor Beckwith, MD; Sari L. Reisner, ScD, MA; et al, 11 Sept. 2019.

“Cures For An Illness That Does Not Exist,” Pan American Health Organization, Regional Office of The World Health Organization, 17 May 2012.

“Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults,” Caitlin Ryan, David Huebner, Rafael M. Diaz, Jorge Sanchez, Pediatrics, journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, January 2009, VOLUME 123 / ISSUE 1.

“Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses  to Sexual Orientation,” American Psychological Association, Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, Chair, Lee Beckstead, PhD, Jack Drescher, MD, Beverly Greene, PhD, Robin Lin Miller, PhD, Roger L. Worthington, PhD, Clinton W. Anderson, PhD, August, 2009.

The following list is a compilation of professional organizations which oppose conversion or reparative therapy targeting transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists
American Counselling Association
American Group Psychotherapy Association
American Medical Association
American Medical Student Association
American Mental Health Counselors Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
American Psychological Association
American School Counsellor Association
Association of Christian Counsellors
Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Issues in Counseling
Australian and New Zealand Professional Association for Transgender Health
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
British Psychoanalytic Council
British Psychological Society
Canadian Association for Social Work Education
Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health
Canadian Psychiatric Association
Clinical Social Work Association
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario
College of Sex and Relationship Therapists
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
GLADD (The Association of LGBT Doctors and Dentists)
International Federation of Social Workers
National Association for Children’s Behavioral Health
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Social Workers’ National Committee on LGBT Issues
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
National Counselling Society
NHS England
NHS Scotland
Pink Therapy Professional
Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec (Order of social workers and conjugal and family therapists of Quebec)
Ordre professionnel des sexologues du Québec (Professional order of sexologists of Quebec)
Royal College of General Practitioners
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Addiction Professionals and their Allies
The Association of LGBTQ Psychiatrists
UK Council for Psychotherapy
World Professional Association for Transgender Health

So Judge Jung, you either had your personal prejudices on full-bright display, or you and your clerks are incompetent morons too lazy to even use Google. Either way, you are receiving a well-deserved Douche Bag Award. Congratulations.

1. “Survey: LGBTQ Youth Suicide Crisis Made Worse by Conversion Therapy,” Advocate, Trudy Ring, 11 July 2019.
2. Ibid