Supreme Court Declines to Rule on Case Challenging Conversion Therapy Ban
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to rule on a challenge to Washington’s ban on performing conversion therapy on minors, leaving the ban in place.
The Ban: Washington SB 5722, signed into law in 2018, defines conversion therapy as “a regime that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. The term includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.” The bill aims to “regulate the professional conduct of licensed health care providers” and protect the state’s LGBT minors from the “serious harms caused by conversion therapy.”
The Challenge: Christian licensed marriage and family therapist Brian Tingley challenged the ban, claiming it violated his First Amendment rights.
Details: Three conservative justices joined the liberals in rejecting the case. The three other conservative justices — Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Clarence Thomas — dissented. In his dissenting opinion, Thomas wrote, “This petition asks us to consider whether Washington can censor counselors who help minors accept their biological sex. Because this question has divided the courts of appeals and strikes at the heart of the First Amendment, I would grant review.” In a separate dissenting opinion, Alito wrote, “It is beyond dispute that these laws restrict speech, and all restrictions on speech merit careful scrutiny.”
How the Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum covered the decision, with some left-rated outlets deeming the decision a surprise win for LGBT rights advocates. Update 12/12/23 9:57 p.m. ET: A previous version of this headline incorrectly stated "Conversation" instead of "Conversion." We regret the error.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Supreme Court Turns Away Challenge to Law Banning Conversion TherapyThe Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not hear a First Amendment challenge to a Washington State law banning professional counseling services intended to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh dissented.
The challenged law forbids licensed therapists there from performing conversion therapy, which it defines to include “efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.” The law permits counseling...
From the Center
Justices won’t hear “conversion therapy” caseA divided Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide whether a Washington state law that prohibits licensed therapists from practicing conversion therapy on children violates the First Amendment. The announcement was part of a list of orders released from the justices’ private conference on Friday. The justices granted one new case from that conference, involving the power of federal courts to review a federal employee’s case after he missed a filing deadline, on Friday afternoon.
The conversion therapy question came to the Supreme Court in the case of Brian Tingley,...
From the Right
Trio of justices dissent after Supreme Court upholds anti-conversion therapy lawsThe Supreme Court declined to take up a case seeking to overturn Washington state's ban on the practice of conversion therapy for minors who say they are gay or lesbian, prompting the court's most conservative members to say they would have granted it.
Despite three dissents from Republican-appointed Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh, the majority on the bench decided to leave intact Washington state's ban on engaging LGBT minors in conversion therapy, which mirrors similar restrictions in 20 other states.
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