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submitted 11 months ago by DevCat@lemmy.world to c/usa@lemmy.ml

The Christian anti-LGBTQ+ legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — defined as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn state bans on so-called conversion therapy for minors. Though the court hasn’t agreed to take on the case just yet, it provide insight into how ADF plans on challenging more conversion therapy bans in the future.

The ADF is providing legal counsel to licensed marriage and family counselor Brian Tingley in Tingley v. Ferguson, a legal challenge to Washington state’s ban. Tingley says the ban violates his rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, The New Republic reported.

Tingley’s petition to the court says that his speech as a therapist should be considered as “speech” and not professional “conduct.” He said he “lives in continuous fear of government persecution” because the ban “forbids him from speaking, treating his professional license as a license for government censorship.” Tingley says he should be able to offer conversion therapy — even though it has been widely disavowed as a form of psychological torture by numerous American mental health organizations — because some kids are actively seeking to change their sexual orientation.

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[-] DevCat@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

I'm sure all the fringe medical therapy groups (read: scam artists) will jump right on this. Not that there's really any difference between someone selling boner pills and these guys.

[-] KnowledgeableNip@leminal.space 10 points 11 months ago

Boner pills don't usually result in suicide

[-] name_NULL111653@pawb.social 8 points 11 months ago

Whereas "conversion therapy," either from a psych or a parent, usually does result in trying to kill oneself. Been there, done that... And yes. It's torture.

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml -3 points 11 months ago

... boner pills work though?

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Oh he lives in fear of government persecution? He should discuss what living in fear feels like with a survivor of conversion therapy.

Also, speaking as an educated professional, my professional speech needs to be bound to my professional standards, ethics, and modern understanding. If I don’t have that binding as an engineer people will get hurt. Same goes for lawyers. If you don’t want your speech restricted in a professional context don’t go into a profession that involves your communication. Or be a priest, they can apparently say whatever the fuck they want

[-] ira@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

They may have help in other places too - Mike Johnson (now Speaker of the House) was senior legal counsel at ADF for nearly a decade.

[-] LegionEris@feddit.nl 5 points 11 months ago

This isn't important, but I hate it that every time I read ADF it's these fucks and not the Anna Delvy Foundation. I kinda admire her. I definitely respect her. But any time I read ADF it's hate and never art. And that sucks. I had reserved that acronym in my lexicon for a funny reference. And they fucked that up.

this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
113 points (96.7% liked)

United States | News & Politics

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