This blog originally appeared at Reuters.
The US Supreme Court rejects a challenge to the ban on gay ‘conversion therapy’ in Washington state.
On December 11, Reuters reported that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition to review a case challenging Washington state’s law prohibiting “conversion therapy” for minors. This law, enacted in 2018, aims to prevent attempts to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The case was brought by a Christian therapist who argued that the law violated free speech rights.
The Supreme Court declined to hear Brian Tingley’s appeal challenging the Washington state law on “conversion therapy.” Tingley argued that the law violated his freedom of speech under the First Amendment by restricting how he communicates with therapy clients. The court’s decision upheld the lower court’s dismissal of the case, with the state contending that it regulates professional conduct rather than speech.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision to reject the case. This marked another clash between LGBT protections and the religious rights of individuals.
In June, the court’s 6-3 conservative majority ruled that certain businesses had a free speech right to decline providing services for same-sex weddings. The liberal justices who dissented characterized the decision as a “license to discriminate.”
Tingley, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Tacoma, Washington, contends that sexual relationships outside of a marriage between one man and one woman are “inconsistent with God’s design.” He also asserts that “the sex each person receives at conception” is “a gift from God.”
The Democratic-backed law bars licensed healthcare professionals from administering therapies to minors intended to “alter an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” Violations may result in sanctions such as censure, fines, or the revocation of the professional’s license.
The law allows licensed therapists to engage in discussions or advocacy for conversion therapy, provide such therapy to adults, or recommend it to be carried out by others, including religious counselors. However, the law does not extend to non-licensed counselors operating under the umbrella of a church, religious denomination, or organization.
In a written opinion on Monday, Justice Thomas emphasized the importance of addressing the issue of gender identity and argued that the court should have considered the case. According to Thomas, Washington state’s law has effectively silenced one side of a “fierce public debate” by prohibiting counselors from assisting clients in “accepting their biological sex.”
He added, “That is pure viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination.”
He argued that there’s no evidence licensed therapists have ever employed abusive practices on children.
He argued that the law impermissibly provides the state with a free pass to censor professionals and targets individuals based on their religion.
The state argues that it has the authority to regulate the conduct of professionals, even if such regulation may impact speech. It points out that 26 states and the District of Columbia restrict or prohibit conversion therapy for minors.
Tingley filed a lawsuit against the state in 2021. U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan dismissed the case, stating that the law does not violate Tingley’s First Amendment rights because it is “rationally related” to the state’s interest in protecting the well-being of minors.
The judge’s ruling was affirmed by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022.
Tingley is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has contested various LGBT protections. The same group also represented the business owner in the Colorado same-sex weddings case.
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