Legislative Disappointments: Conversion Therapy

Another session of the Utah State Legislature is almost complete. Lawmakers did a number of disappointing things this session, including changing ballot initiatives and fumbling an ill-conceived tax overhaul. But perhaps the most disappointing thing that happened was the derailing of a ban on conversion therapy due to Rep. Karianne Lisonbee and Governor Herbert watering down a bill that was unopposed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which prompted Equality Utah's director Troy Williams to resign from the state's Suicide Prevention Task Force. Abby and Jim discuss the history and future of conversion therapy - Sigmund Freud does not come across well - and also debate what anatomical terms are appropriate for a family-oriented podcast.  

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The Bennett family has been at the heart of Utah politics for over half a century. So what happens when they talk about the issues of the day around the dinner table? Join Jim, the dad, and Abby, the daughter for a free- wheeling political discussion with an intergenerational perspective. College student Abby is a political independent, while her father Jim is a former Republican who became the first candidate of the new United Utah Party in 2017, running for Congress and garnering over 14,000 votes. Jim's father, Bob Bennett, served as a GOP senator from Utah for eighteen years after being unceremoniously ousted by the Tea Party. Bob was well-respected and, toward the end of his life, co-created the Utah Debate Commission, facilitating public discourse between leading candidates. Jim was the first non-Republican/non-Democrat to participate in a UDC debate. Abby may well be the next.