Biased Washington law is a gross violation of therapists’ freedom of speech – Washington Examiner

Often, people go to therapy because theyre struggling with something and they want help from a professional. They expect the best advice possible anything that will help them heal. But in many cases, they also look for someone who shares their values, someone who will understand where theyre coming from and why theyre hurting.

In Washington state, this kind of well-rounded, values-oriented therapy is illegal for those struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Brian Tingley, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Tacoma, Washington, went to federal court last week to challenge a Washington law that prohibits specific, private, client-counselor conversations about gender identity or sexual orientation. The purpose of the law, according to the Democrats who passed it, is to ban conversion therapy. But the practical effect of the law has been to punish religious therapists and counselors who rely on their faith to guide their conversations with clients.

For more than 20 years, Brian has counseled adults, teenagers, and children who seek his help, and those counselor-client conversations are private certainly not open for the government to censor, Alliance Defending Freedoms Senior Counsel Roger Brooks said. Washingtons counseling censorship law targets people of faith and threatens to stand between Brians clients and the personal counseling goals they choose to pursue with his help. We hope the court will agree that it is unlawful for the state of Washington to ban speech simply because state officials disagree with the viewpoints expressed.

Under Washingtons law, which was passed in 2018, counselors are banned from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with minor clients if their goal is to change the young persons identity or sexual attraction. The law threatens severe sanctions including substantial fines of $5,000 per violation, suspension from practice, and even loss of his license should Tingley encourage his young clients to pursue anything but total affirmation.

In the complaint, Tingleys attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom said, Washington State seeks to insert itself into the privacy of Plaintiffs counseling room and censor his discussion and exploration of certain ideas with his young clients.

This law not only violates basic privacy rights but is also clearly biased. If Tingley wanted to encourage his client to adopt a gender identity contrary to his biological sex, that would be permissible under this law. But if he wanted to help a young person be more comfortable with a gender identity that matches her physical body, that sort of conversation would be considered illegal.

In other words, the law only bans conversations that support more orthodox views of gender and sexuality. This is harmful because an abundance of research shows many young people who struggle with their sexual orientation or gender identity at a young age become more comfortable and confident in their own skin if given enough time.

Other states with similar laws have found out the hard way that pushing specific views about gender via policy violates the First Amendment. Palm Beach County in Florida had a similar ordinance, and the 11th Circuit held that the ordinance violated Americans right to free speech.

And in New York City, officials were forced to repeal their counseling censorship ordinance and pay $100,000 in attorneys fees and nominal damages after Dr. Dovid Schwartz, an Orthodox Jewish psychotherapist, filed a lawsuit against the city.

Washingtons law violates the First Amendment rights of therapists with traditional views. The state has no business dictating private conversations between clients and therapists. Furthermore, it is advantageous for therapists to have the freedom to encourage their clients to consider all avenues of healing especially when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity issues. Pushing clients to pursue only one lifestyle could be devastating later.

Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.

More here:
Biased Washington law is a gross violation of therapists' freedom of speech - Washington Examiner