Michigan has stipulated it will not enforce the state ban on conversion therapy that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors as part of an agreement filed this week with a federal court to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar law in Colorado.
A spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who defended the ban, said the state had no choice.
“We remain deeply disappointed in this decision and have grave concerns for the implications this could bring for the safety and welfare of Michigan’s children,” said Public Information Director Kimberly Bush. “The stipulated order entered today merely recognizes that plaintiffs are entitled to relief under the Supreme Court’s decision.”
The Michigan case was filed on behalf of Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties and has been on hold waiting for a U.S. Supreme Court decision. But the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled similarly last year that the law violates the First Amendment rights of counselors who practice conversion talk therapy.
“Michigan is acknowledging that its law is unconstitutional,” said attorney Luke Goodrich with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “It is illegal for Michigan to muzzle these counselors and deprive children of the help they need, and so with this result, the law is declared unconstitutional, and counselors are free to provide cautious counseling and children can get the care that they need,” he said.
Conversion therapy is discredited by many professional organizations as harmful to the psychological well-being of children. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the law to ban conversion therapy three years ago. About 20 other states also had similar bans on their books at the time.
Jay Kaplan, an LGBTQ rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said there are other avenues such as civil litigation the state could pursue to challenge the use of conversion therapy.
“We know that there are studies showing this is pretty much a fraudulent, discredited practice,” he said. “So, a statute maybe that specifically indicates that there is an action for consumer fraud against individuals who engage in this practice of conversion therapy.”
Kaplan said the attorney general could also issue a formal opinion that conversion therapy violates Michigan’s consumer protection law.
