\n<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a Christian legal group will urge the US supreme court to overturn a ban on anti-LGBTQ+ \u201cconversion therapy\u201d in a case that could erode protections for transgender and queer youth across the country.<\/p>\n
Lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which has opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights in high-profile litigation, are representing a woman challenging a 2019 Colorado law that prohibited conversion practices for youth under age 18. The ban applies to licensed clinicians who seek to change a patient\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity, tactics medical groups have discredited as harmful and ineffective.<\/p>\n
ADF\u2019s petition in the case, Chiles v Salazar, cited several scholars to support its argument that conversion practices should once again be permitted. Two of those experts, however, told the Guardian that ADF had \u201cprofoundly\u201d misrepresented their research, which discussed the \u201cpsychological damage\u201d of conversion therapy.<\/p>\n
The family of a deceased researcher, also quoted by ADF, said they were \u201cdeeply disturbed\u201d by the \u201cdistortion\u201d of his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most upsetting use of my scholarship that has ever happened in my career,\u201d said Clifford Rosky, a University of Utah professor of constitutional law and civil rights. He has worked to ban conversion therapy, but ADF nonetheless cited his research on sexual orientation and LGBTQ+ rights, co-authored with renowned sexuality researcher Dr Lisa Diamond, to bolster its petition. \u201cIt\u2019s upsetting because this is lethally dangerous to LGBTQ+ kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
ADF defended its quotations as \u201caccurate\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n
Colorado is one of more than 20 states that have prohibited practitioners from using conversion tactics \u2013 bans that could be vulnerable if ADF succeeds.<\/p>\n
Conversion practices, sometimes called \u201creparative\u201d therapy or \u201csexual orientation change efforts,\u201d can take the form of \u201cpray the gay away\u201d religious counseling, therapy aimed at suppressing patients\u2019 behaviors and expression, or outdated techniques such as electrical shocks. The practice is condemned by the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association and other major groups, which note links to increased depression and suicide attempts.<\/p>\n
Chiles v Salazar comes as US political attacks on trans and LGBTQ+ youth are dramatically escalating. The case originated with Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor who argued Colorado\u2019s conversion therapy ban infringed on her free speech rights to discuss her Christian faith and beliefs about \u201cbiological sex\u201d with patients. Chiles, ADF says, \u201chas begun censoring herself in conversations with clients\u201d due to the law.<\/p>\n
<\/span>An activist holds a Pride flag outside the US supreme court in Washington DC on 24 June 2022.<\/span> Photograph: Stefani Reynolds\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s attorneys responded that Chiles\u2019s claim was manufactured: the state has not received a complaint about her nor disciplined her. Rather, she filed a \u201cpre-enforcement challenge\u201d in 2022, three years after the ban passed. The law, the state said, does not apply to clinicians outside of work nor to other professions, including religious ministers or life coaches.<\/p>\n ADF petitioned the supreme court to take Chiles\u2019s case last November, days after Donald Trump was elected. The group previously represented a Colorado web designer who argued she had a free speech right to refuse to provide services to gay couples.<\/p>\n While Chiles\u2019s case focuses on free speech, ADF\u2019s petition also asserted that scientific evidence supported its arguments, saying a \u201cgrowing body of research reveals how critical Chiles\u2019s counseling is\u201d, demonstrating that \u201cactions and desires related to human sexuality are \u2026 subject to change\u201d.<\/p>\n ADF then cited Diamond and Rosky as \u201crespected researchers who support LGBT advocacy\u201d, quoting a section of the Utah researchers\u2019 2016 paper that said \u201carguments based on the immutability of sexual orientation are unscientific\u201d.<\/p>\n The paper argued some people\u2019s attractions can naturally shift over time \u2013 and LGBTQ+ civil rights should be protected regardless of whether people\u2019s sexuality is fixed or fluid.<\/p>\n In another brief for Chiles, ADF excerpted a quote from the paper, writing: \u201cSexual orientation changes for many people. Respected researchers of LGBT issues have long observed that \u2018longitudinal, population-based studies\u2019 show \u2018changes in the same-sex attractions of some individuals over time\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Left out of ADF\u2019s reference was the sentence in the paper introducing those studies, which said the research was referencing \u201cchange that occurs outside the context of [conversion therapy]\u201d. ADF also failed to acknowledge the researchers\u2019 forceful rejection of conversion practices as \u201cnot only ineffective in changing sexual orientation but \u2026 psychologically damaging, often resulting in elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality\u201d.<\/p>\n They claim our work supports conversion therapy when our work clearly and specifically condemns conversion therapy on the same page they\u2019re citingClifford Rosky, University of Utah<\/p>\n \u201cThey are using our work to minimize the harm of conversion therapy. There are few practices where there is as much demonstrated evidence of harm,\u201d Diamond, a distinguished professor of psychology and gender studies, said. \u201cThat\u2019s where I find the misinterpretation to be so profound.\u201d<\/p>\n ADF, she said, was conflating naturally occurring sexual fluidity with efforts to force someone to repress their identity: \u201cIt\u2019s erasing the fact that conversion therapy is motivated by shame, fear of disconnection, fear of expulsion, fear of the loss of God\u2019s love, fear of abandonment. Those are triggers of suicidality. That\u2019s where the damage comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s deceptive,\u201d Rosky said of ADF\u2019s selective quotations. \u201cLawyers owe a duty of candor to the court. You cannot offer false evidence, and if you do so accidentally and find out, you have to correct that \u2026 They claim our work supports conversion therapy when our work clearly and specifically condemns conversion therapy on the same page they\u2019re citing.\u201d<\/p>\n Diamond and Rosky filed a brief with the court \u201cto correct the mischaracterizations of their research\u201d. ADF has never contacted them, the scholars said.<\/p>\n Jonathan Scruggs, ADF\u2019s vice-president of litigation strategy and senior counsel, did not respond to detailed questions about specific citations and claims of misrepresentation, but said in a statement: \u201cWe stand by what we quoted in the briefs as accurate quotations.\u201d<\/p>\n He repeated Chiles\u2019s assertions that she is seeking to have \u201cvoluntary conversations\u201d with clients, arguing there was \u201cno proof\u201d those conversations would \u201ccause any harm\u201d. Scruggs added: \u201cKaley is not forcing anyone to listen to her conversations and only counsels those who voluntarily come to her \u2026 It\u2019s unfortunate that the state and certain \u2018experts\u2019 aligned with the state are trying to shut down conversations because they disagree with certain views.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosky \u2013 who helped draft Utah\u2019s 2023 conversion therapy ban \u2013 noted research finding 44% to 63% of youth who undergo conversion therapy attempt suicide: \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about suicidal ideation. We\u2019re talking about actual attempts. By kids. The stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. It\u2019s a grave public health threat.\u201d He added: \u201cAll the scientific evidence is horrible for their side. I\u2019m sure they felt they needed someone credible to cite, like Lisa Diamond.\u201d<\/p>\n Diamond has for years spoken out about her work on sexual fluidity being distorted to support anti-LGBTQ+ causes. She gave a 2018 Ted talk about the article cited by ADF where she spelled out conversion therapy\u2019s harms.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s diabolical about [ADF] using me. They know they are misrepresenting my views. It also feels very hard to counter because it\u2019s not coming from facts or reason. It\u2019s coming from animus,\u201d Diamond said, adding: \u201cThis case could do some real harm to the very individuals we\u2019ve spent our lives trying to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n ADF also cited Nicholas Cummings, who served as the American Psychological Association\u2019s president in 1979, writing: \u201cAfter counseling hundreds of clients who successfully changed their unwanted sexual orientations and gender identities, Dr Cummings concluded that it is \u2018a distortion of reality\u2019 to suggest that change is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n The petition references a 2013 op-ed from Cummings, who said he oversaw thousands of gay and lesbian patients from 1959 to 1979 and the \u201cmajority were able to attain a happier and more stable homosexual lifestyle\u201d. He said for a select group who \u201csought to change their orientation\u201d, \u201chundreds were successful\u201d. In 2015, he endorsed the Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ suicide prevention group, and said efforts to try to \u201ccure\u201d gay people and turn them straight were \u201cunethical and a violation of human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n The family of Cummings, who died in 2020, wrote in a 2023 open letter that he \u201cstrongly condemned all forms of conversion therapy\u201d and his statements had been \u201cmanipulated by those who support an anti-gay agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked about the supreme court citation, a family representative provided a brief statement referring back to its 2023 letter, adding: \u201cWe are deeply disturbed by and we regret any distortion of Dr Cummings\u2019 work for political purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n ADF also cited a 2022 paper titled \u201cSexual Orientation Change Efforts Do Not Increase Suicide: Correcting a False Research Narrative.\u201d It was authored by Rev D Paul Sullins, a senior research associate at the Ruth Institute, which works to \u201cdefend traditional Christian sexual ethics\u201d.<\/p>\n That paper was based on publicly available data from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a leading LGBTQ+ policy research center, which concluded in its own 2020 study that sexual minorities exposed to conversion therapy \u201chad nearly twice the odds of lifetime suicidal ideation\u201d. Those researchers reviewed Sullins\u2019 work and said his conclusions were \u201cinvalid\u201d and \u201cnot supported by the data\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s erasing the fact that conversion therapy is motivated by shame, fear of disconnection, fear of expulsion, fear of the loss of God\u2019s loveLisa Diamond, sexuality researcher<\/p>\n In a supreme court brief, the Williams Institute said it had reviewed 13 studies on conversion therapy published since 2020 \u2013 and Sullins\u2019 was the only one that reported positive impact.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t go with the one study that showed the opposite of what everybody else found,\u201d said Ilan Meyer of the Williams Institute, who co-authored the 2020 research. The literature, he added, was \u201cstraightforward\u201d. \u201cConversion therapists do exactly the opposite of what mental health professionals recommend. If somebody is struggling with their sexuality or gender, you don\u2019t tell them it\u2019s right to feel shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n Sullins defended his research in an email, asserting it was \u201cfalse\u201d to claim conversion therapy \u201cinduced suicide\u201d.<\/p>\n Other \u201cauthorities\u201d cited in ADF\u2019s petition include an anonymous Reddit post from someone who said they regretted their gender transition, and an interview with a teenager who said she had identified as trans but later changed her mind, from a site that took down its article at the request of the subject.<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s lawyers noted Chiles had not put forward any expert declarations or affidavits to \u201cdevelop a record to support her claims\u201d, instead relying on \u201cunvetted and irrelevant \u2026 material\u201d.<\/p>\n ADF did not respond to questions about the Cummings and Sullins citations and its references to anonymous online commentary. A spokesperson for the Colorado attorney general declined to comment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe petitioner\u2019s case is based on dubious science and practices that have been discredited,\u201d said Tony Carrk, the executive director of Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group that documented discrepancies in Chiles\u2019s citations. \u201cWhat does this mean for the supreme court that yet again they\u2019re agreeing to hear another ideologically driven case propped up on flimsy scientific evidence and aimed at LGBTQ+ Americans?\u201d<\/p>\n The supreme court\u2019s conservative supermajority has repeatedly ruled against LGBTQ+ rights in recent years. That includes upholding a state ban on trans youth healthcare, siding with parents who objected to LGBTQ+ literature in schools, and in ADF\u2019s 2023 case, ruling Colorado civil rights law violated the free speech of the web designer who didn\u2019t want to serve LGBTQ+ couples.<\/p>\n That track record is worrying to advocates, who warn of far-reaching consequences if Chiles prevails, including similar efforts in other states.<\/p>\n The case is aligned with the agenda of Trump and his allies to remove trans people from public life and force trans youth to suppress their identities, said Julia Serano, an author who writes about gender and sexuality: \u201cThere have been relentless efforts for more than a century to try to make trans people not trans \u2026 This case, like a lot of policy interventions, is about making the existence of trans people questionable.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversion therapy survivors said it was painful to think so much progress could be undone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be absolutely catastrophic,\u201d Curtis Lopez-Galloway, the founder of the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network, said of a Chiles victory. He said he will face lifelong effects from being subjected to conversion therapy at age 16 and hoped the US could someday pass a national ban, akin to Canada\u2019s, which broadly outlawed these practices for children and adults.<\/p>\n Cairn Journey Yakey, a Colorado licensed counselor who is non-binary, filed an affidavit with Advocates for Trans Equality about the conversion therapy they endured in church and the post-traumatic stress disorder that it caused: \u201cIt was a big moment when Colorado passed this law. We could take a deep breath because we took this step forward and collectively decided we can\u2019t do this kind of harm in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n If the ban is undone, Yakey said there would be renewed advocacy efforts to educate people about the dangers of conversion therapy and support LGBTQ+ youth and survivors. This moment reminded them of when Maine repealed marriage equality in 2009 soon after it had been passed: \u201cThat was my first time realizing our rights are not static. So there\u2019s familiarity in what I\u2019m feeling now, but also shock and sadness and grief that this ban is being challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Tuesday, a Christian legal group will urge the US supreme court to overturn a ban on anti-LGBTQ+ \u201cconversion therapy\u201d in a case that could erode protections for transgender and queer youth across the country. Lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which has opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights in high-profile litigation, are representing a woman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[7521,15763,160,15762,1936,699,3141,7980,159],"class_list":{"0":"post-26228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-christian","9":"tag-cited","10":"tag-court","11":"tag-deceived","12":"tag-group","13":"tag-lgbtq","14":"tag-research","15":"tag-scholars","16":"tag-supreme"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Deceptive and damaging\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
More \u2018dubious\u2019 claims<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Fearing \u2018catastrophic\u2019 consequences<\/strong><\/h2>\n