Washington State’s SB 5722 would require licensed therapists to use “affirmation-only” therapy and effectively ban mental health care for detransitioners 

On April 27, WoLF submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Tingley v. Ferguson, in support of challenge to a Washington state law that bans licensed therapists from providing counseling that does not “affirm” a minor’s gender identity, calling it conversion therapy and labeling it unprofessional conduct. Brian Tingley, a marriage and family therapist, sued on free speech grounds and free exercise of religion on his own behalf and on behalf of some of his patients.

The federal district court dismissed Tingley’s case, and the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal, expressing outrage at the success stories he shared with the Court about counseling children to be comfortable with their bodies without medicalization and delusion. Tingley is petitioning the Supreme Court to reverse that ruling.

The law also applies to sexual orientation, and since WoLF does not support conversion therapy for same-sex attracted youth (to put it mildly), this case exemplifies the complexity of the decisions WoLF faces about which legal cases to weigh in on. This law only applies to licensed therapists from “attempting to change” a minor’s sexual orientation or “gender identity.” Whereas some parents may bring their kids in for talk therapy with Tingley or other therapists that is aimed at changing their sexuality, most take them somewhere else; in contrast, a mental health clinic is the starting point for nearly every “gender transition.” That fact makes this law much more impactful for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria - which WoLF believes is the primary goal of SB 5722.  These youth enter this pipeline of “gender transition,” a modern form of conversion therapy in its own right, that is deeply rooted in homophobia and used primarily to “convert” same-sex attracted, and gender-nonconforming minors into straight-passing minors - what the brief calls “medicalized heterosexuality.” 

WoLF also argues that “gender identity ideology” functions similarly to a religion, and that SB 5722 violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment - which says that the government cannot take actions (such as passing laws) that coerce or mandate members of the public to follow or express agreement with a particular belief system. This includes a belief system founded on a belief that humans have a disembodied inner essence that “aligns” with the male or female sex, or both sexes, or neither sex, or with some other concept. 

Case Background

SB 5722 was passed in Washington state in March of 2018. The law bans the practice of “conversion therapy” on minors by licensed mental health professionals with penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, suspension from practice, and loss of license. The law defines conversion therapy as:

(4)(a) "Conversion therapy" means 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 term includes, but is not limited to, practices commonly referred to as "reparative therapy."

(b) "Conversion therapy" does not include counseling or psychotherapies that provide acceptance, support, and understanding of clients or the facilitation of clients' coping, social support, and identity exploration and development that do not seek to change sexual orientation or gender identity.

Importantly, the therapy at the heart of this case is talk therapy — not the conversion therapy of nightmares that many gays and lesbians were exposed to throughout the 1950s - 1970s. Brian Tingley is a licensed marriage and family counselor who does not engage in “affirmation-only” gender care, and specifically treats clients who seek him out for his approach. Under SB 5722, if a young lesbian sought help from Tingley, or any other licensed counselor in Washington for help with feeling like she might be a boy, her counselor would be legally required to “affirm” this belief and encourage the girl to “transition,” regardless of the resulting harm.

Tingley’s case was initially dismissed by the Western District Court of Washington, and that dismissal was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Tingley is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Ninth Circuit’s decision and send his case back to be heard in the Western District Court of Washington.

Transition: The New Conversion Therapy

While SB 5722 sets out to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” it does this by forcing therapists to provide - and forcing patients to receive - “affirmation-only” care, a process that often aims to convert same-sex attracted and gender-nonconforming youth into straight-passing by convincing them they can change their sex (which is impossible). By pairing these two, the authors of the law engage in what radical feminists describe as forced teaming. This is when trans activists manipulate, gaslight, and violate the boundaries of the LGB civil rights movement — appealing to droves of uncritical liberal supporters with its rebranded, vacuous “LGBTQIA2S+” civil rights movement. 

Yet despite the forced association, much of gender ideology is rooted in misogynistic and regressive stereotypes, including homophobia. This has been demonstrated time and time again. WoLF states:

“Gender identity theory promotes the idea that a person can be “born in the wrong body,” a view adopted by countries such as Pakistan and Iran (where homosexuality is punished by death, but “sex change” is government subsidized as a form of conversion therapy). This attitude may be more common than many realize - whistleblowers from a child “gender” clinic in the UK have stated that “gender-affirming” care is sometimes sought by families who prefer a “transgender” child over a gay child.” (citations omitted) 

The brief also shares the heartbreaking story of Kai Shappley, a boy who was the victim of homophobic abuse by his mother. Eventually, Kai started claiming to be a girl, apparently in a desperate attempt to avoid abuse for his “feminine” interests. Kai’s mother admits that she was willing to do anything to ensure he wasn’t gay. Eventually, this resulted in her transitioning Kai to live as a “straight” girl:

Research demonstrates that many children desist from childhood gender dysphoria, and most of them eventually grow up to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Same-sex attracted youth are not protected from “conversion therapy” by SB 5277 — they are merely funneled into a new, modern form of conversion called “transition.” 

“The cruel irony, indeed, is that so-called ‘transition’ is merely a modern form of ‘conversion.’ While the state and its supporters would aim to ban conversion while encouraging transition, these words both mean the same thing: change. The goal of transition, though, is to change not only the individual’s sexual orientation but also their entire body to the extreme degree that the victims of these therapies will be subjected to lifelong medicalization (including sterilization), with ultimately little improvement to their wellbeing.”

Even more disturbing, the law would effectively ban care for detransitioners because detrans care does not follow an affirmation model:

“While the one-sided Washington ban on “conversion therapy” would protect the therapists who wished to transition these young people in the first place, the same law could ban therapists from providing minors desperately-needed care during their detransition. This issue will only become more pronounced as reports of detransition continue to grow.”

Because the law aims to ban “conversion therapy,” yet encourages the “conversion” of children and youth from one sex to another to make them straight, WoLF argues that the law is internally inconsistent and likely to cause harm to the very people it purports to help.

Gender Identity: A State-Endorsed Religion

WoLF presents evidence in its amicus brief demonstrating the ways that gender identity ideology functions much like a religion, especially by relying on a spiritual concept much like a soul. For example, the brief quotes an interview in them with Reverend Valerie Spencer on the “divinity of transness.” Spencer states:

“To be trans is one of the most spiritual things one can ever be in and itself — even should you never pray. We are the rare people that caught a glimpse of God being itself as us, dancing around as us. And when we begin to move towards that vision, that is divine.”

The brief continues:

 “This notion is repeated by many pro-trans advocates, Caitlyn Jenner, who describes being trans as having “the soul of a female”; President Biden, who called laws protecting children from unnecessary gender medicalization “sinful”; and protesters who called for Dave Chappelle to “repent” in light of jokes about the trans community.” (footnotes omitted)  

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". Yet, by enshrining gender identity ideology into law, WoLF argues that Washington state has endorsed one belief system over others (and, worse, endorsed a harmful belief system over physical reality and science), and is effectively imposing this dogma on the public “through compelling speech and actions in support of this belief system.” Because of this, WoLF argues that SB 5722 is unconstitutional.

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