Appeals court hears challenge to gay therapy ban

Appeals court hears challenges to Calif. law that bans therapy to make gay minors straight

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's novel law seeking to ban licensed counselors from trying to turn gay teens straight is boiling down to a question over whether the therapy is free speech or a medical treatment that can be regulated by government.







"We really don't have anything compelling, as I see it," Kozinski said. "Government has to have a compelling interest in curtailing speech."

California Deputy Attorney General Alexandra Robert Gordon, who is defending the ban, cited mainstream medical organizations' support of the law, and testimony before the state Legislature by several people who said they were harmed by the counseling.

Kozinski replied that opponents of the law also testified before lawmakers that they benefited from the counseling.

"There is evidence going both ways," Kozinski concluded.

Lawyers for parents of children who are undergoing the counseling and licensed professionals who administer the "talk therapy" argued the ban goes too far. But Mathew Staver, founder of the Liberty Counsel and a lawyer opposing the law, said there is "no evidence of harm."


The cases before the appeals court was brought by professionals who practice sexual-orientation change therapy, two families who say their teenage sons benefited from it, and a national association of Christian mental health counselors. They argue the ban infringes on their free speech and freedom of association and religious rights. The counselors also argue it jeopardizes their livelihoods.



Supporters, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, say the prohibition on "reparative" and "conversion" therapy is necessary to protect children from a coercive practice that can put them at increased risk of suicide. They also say the therapy's efficacy has been questioned or rejected by every major mental health professional association.




The panel hearing the cases Wednesday consists of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985, Judge Susan Graber, a 1998 Bill Clinton appointee, and Judge Morgan Christen, a 2012 appointee of President Barack Obama. The judges have no deadline for issuing a decision.

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