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San Francisco, CA—Today, Liberty Counsel filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, asking the court to rehear Pickup v. Brown, Liberty Counsel’s case against California’s change therapy ban. Recently a three-judge panel of the court upheld California’s ban on change therapy. In December 2012 a separate panel of three judges from the same court issued an injunction blocking the law. Under this law, minors are not able to receive any counsel from a licensed therapist which seeks to change unwanted same-sex sexual or romantic attractions, behaviors or mannerisms, or identity. Nor will licensed counselors be permitted to offer such counsel, despite the fact that their clients are currently benefiting from such counsel.

The panel’s decision conflicts with established Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent regarding heightened scrutiny for content-based regulations on expressive conduct, vague and overbroad regulations, and parental rights.

“The panel’s decision that SB1172 does not abridge the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children conflicts with Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedents, which reject ‘the statist notion that governmental power should supersede parental authority,’ (Parham v. J.R.), and affirm that ‘the right to family association includes the right of parents to make important medical decisions for their children, and of children to have those decisions made by their parents rather than the state’ (Wallis v. Spencer),” the petition states.

Liberty Counsel filed Pickup v. Brown on behalf of minors who are receiving and significantly benefiting from such counseling, their parents, licensed counselors who provide such counsel, and two counseling organizations—the National Association for Research and Therapy on Homosexuality (NARTH) and the American Christian Counseling Association (AACC). The injunction from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2012 was issued by a completely different panel than the one that upheld the law last month.

“The minors we represent do not want to act on same-sex attractions, nor do they want to engage in such behavior. They are greatly benefiting from this counseling. Their grades have gone up, their self-esteem has improved, and their relationships at home are much improved,” Staver said. “Legislators and judges in the state of California have essentially barged into the private therapy rooms of victimized young people and told them that their confusion, caused by the likes of a Jerry Sandusky abuser, is normal and they should pursue their unwanted and dangerous same-sex sexual attractions and behavior, regardless of whether those minors desire their religious beliefs to trump their unwanted attractions,” said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989 by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
 

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