Thanks to friends like you, Liberty Counsel took on the aggressive LGBT agenda in court today. We’re asking a federal judge to nix a city of Tampa ban on counseling to help people struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions.

You and I cannot stand by while an authoritarian government blatantly ignores the First Amendment, muzzles counselors, and restricts minors from obtaining the counseling they want. This is another case of Big Brother government—in league with LGBT activists—telling you and me how to live!

Your prayers and financial support are much needed today.

Please see my urgent message below —Mat.

Liberty Counsel was in federal court today seeking to permanently block a city of Tampa ordinance which defies the Constitution, violates the First Amendment, and barges into the sacred trust between counselor and client.

The Tampa ordinance intervenes between counselor and client. It prohibits licensed counselors from giving talk therapy to minors who want to reduce or remove their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity. And the ordinance has teeth. It imposes hefty fines on counselors who give such talk therapy.

+  +  Life-saving counsel

These professionals give life-saving counsel to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and identity to their sincerely held religious beliefs. But LGBT zealots in Tampa and elsewhere have worked furiously to pass laws prohibiting this vital counsel.

And that can have serious, lifelong consequences—even suicide . . .

"If counseling bans had been law in 1989, blocking me from the therapy I was asking for, I probably would have killed myself. I would not have been satisfied with a government-mandated gay identity," said Ken Williams, discussing his own journey out of unwanted same-sex attractions.

Ken struggled for years with homosexual desires but found help. Today, Ken is married with four children and is a pastor. But counseling bans in Tampa and elsewhere block the path to freedom for people like Ken.

+  +  Sacred trust under assault

The sacred trust between counselors and clients establishes a unique relationship that permits the clients to inform their counselors of their goals and receive counseling consistent with those goals. That therapeutic alliance has long been held sacred and inviolable.

But Tampa Ordinance 2017-47 violates the bonds of the therapeutic alliance and the First Amendment. It imposes a viewpoint and content-based prohibition on the speech of licensed professionals who offer counsel.

The city of Tampa has no authority to prohibit counselors from providing counsel their clients seek. The government has no business eavesdropping inside the counseling rooms, and the city has no authority to enact a local counseling regulation!

Will you help us take on the LGBT agenda in court with a gift today? This is a fight we can and must win! And with your help, Liberty Counsel is also fighting similar counseling bans in Maryland, New Jersey and California. Please make your gift today.

+  +  Tampa law violates every First Amendment test

A federal magistrate judge recommended in January that Liberty Counsel's preliminary injunction be granted and that the city ordinance should be halted because the plaintiffs demonstrated that the law violates each and every test of the First Amendment.

State and local governments cannot be allowed to blatantly ignore the First Amendment. We cannot stand silent while LGBT activists conspire with politicians to muzzle counselors and stop people from getting the counseling they desire!

Such overreaching ordinances are a gross intrusion into the fundamental rights of counselors and clients. Every person has the right to receive the counsel of their choice.

Liberty Counsel's legal team has been fighting these intrusive laws in many states since 2012. We are uniquely positioned to take down these laws. But to defend freedom, we need your help.

Would you prayerfully consider helping us stand against this outrageous government intrusion by generously donating now? Your support will fuel the fight in Tampa and help us defend liberty, life and family in courts across America!

The government has no business monitoring private counseling sessions between a counselor and client.

Thank you for standing with Liberty Counsel in defense of freedom!

God bless you,

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

P.S. YOU AND I MUST NOT ALLOW any federal, state or local government or agency to usurp the individual rights of parents, children or their counselors on such personal matters! Please give today to defend freedom!