Federal court reopens Christian counselor’s challenge to Washington ‘conversion therapy’ ban
The court revived Brian Tingley’s First Amendment claim after the U.S. Supreme Court held that a nearly identical Colorado mandate unlawfully restricted counselors’ speech based on viewpoint and must face scrutiny.
A federal judge recently reopened a long-running lawsuit brought by a Christian marriage and family therapist who argues that Washington state’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors violates his free-speech rights by barring him from helping young clients address unwanted same-sex attraction.
U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright of the Western District of Washington reopened Brian Tingley’s First Amendment claim on July 30, allowing his constitutional challenge to proceed in Tingley v. Brown, according to a July 31 press release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents him in the suit.
The ruling followed a hearing in which Tingley’s attorneys argued that the Supreme Court’s March 31 decision in Chiles v. Salazar undermined the legal basis on which lower courts had dismissed his case. In an 8-1 ruling, the high court held that a nearly identical Colorado law restricted speech based on viewpoint and required courts to apply strict scrutiny in further proceedings, as Zeale News previously reported.
Tingley, who practices based in Fircrest, Washington, has more than 20 years of experience counseling adults and minors, according to ADF. He sued in 2021 to challenge a 2018 Washington state law that classifies what it calls “conversion therapy” as unprofessional conduct for licensed health professionals.
The law bans “conversion therapy” for minors, which it defines as a practice that “seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity,” including efforts to “change behaviors or gender expressions” or to “reduce sexual or romantic attraction toward individuals of the same sex.” At the same time, it permits counseling that affirms or supports a minor’s “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The statute, signed by then-Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, subjects practitioners to professional discipline, including the suspension or revocation of their licenses.
Tingley’s attorneys argue that the law unconstitutionally favors one viewpoint by allowing counselors to affirm a minor’s sexual orientation or “gender identity” while forbidding conversations directed toward a different outcome, even when the minor requests that help.
According to court documents, many of Tingley’s clients seek counseling consistent with a Christian worldview and ask for his help pursuing personal goals to become more comfortable with their sex and live according to their moral beliefs.
ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, who argued before the court on Tingley’s behalf, said that there is “an epidemic of mental health issues among young people today.”
“They and their parents often come to Brian Tingley because they feel most comfortable with a counselor who shares their faith, yet the state prohibited these voluntary conversations,” Widmalm-Delphonse added in the ADF release. “We’re pleased the court reined in Washington state’s ideological crusade because it violated the First Amendment and deprived children of the help that they seek.”
A district court dismissed the case in 2021, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. The Supreme Court declined to hear Tingley’s appeal in December 2023, though Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh indicated that they would have granted review, according to CBS News.
After the Supreme Court ruled in Chiles in March, Tingley asked the district court to set aside its earlier judgment and reopen his First Amendment claim, arguing that the ruling had undermined the reasoning used to dismiss his case.
ADF celebrated the case’s reopening, noting in its release that Tingley will “now have his day in court to challenge Washington’s blatantly unconstitutional law and defend his right to help minors struggling with gender confusion.”
