CHRISTIAN POST/ Michael Grybosk-
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal filed by a Christian therapist against Washington state’s ban on “gay conversion therapy,” allowing the law to remain in effect.
In an orders list released Monday morning, the high court declined without comment a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Brian Tingley v. Robert W. Ferguson, Attorney General of Washington state, et al.
The decision received separate dissenting opinions from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Thomas claimed that Washington had “silenced one side of this debate” through state law.
“A law that restricts speech based on its content or viewpoint is presumptively unconstitutional and may be upheld only if the state can prove that the law is narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests,” wrote Thomas.
Thomas argued that the state law was “viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination in its purest form” and “presumptively unconstitutional,” adding that “the state must show that it can survive strict scrutiny before enforcing it.”
In 2018, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5722 into law. The measure prohibited licensed therapists from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts therapy on underaged individuals.
Also referred to as “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy” by critics, SOCE therapy involves counseling that attempts to reduce or eliminate same-sex sexual attraction in a person.
While the law exempts religious groups, Tingley filed suit against Washington in 2021, arguing that the exemption did not sufficiently protect the freedoms of religion and speech. Continue reading…
