Federal Court Upholds Maryland’s Ex-Gay Torture Ban

Via press release from the Liberty Counsel:

U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow ignored binding Supreme Court precedent and issued an opinion dismissing Liberty Counsel’s lawsuit seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction against Maryland’s law prohibiting minors from receiving voluntary counseling from licensed professionals to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion. Liberty Counsel will immediately appeal this decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Doyle v. Hogan, Liberty Counsel represents Christopher Doyle [photo above], a licensed professional counselor in Virginia and Maryland. Doyle is challenging Maryland’s SB 1028, which was signed into law by Maryland governor Larry Hogan and went into effect on October 1, 2018. Doyle counsels minors who voluntarily seek his help and are struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, and identity. Doyle’s counseling is provided solely through speech, but it is prohibited by Maryland’s counseling ban because the state disapproves Doyle’s viewpoint.

Roger Gannam, Liberty Counsel’s Assistant Vice President of Legal Affairs, and one of the lead litigators in Liberty Counsel’s challenges of counseling bans around the country, reacts: “The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals should reverse the district court and hold that Doyle’s counseling speech is entitled to full First Amendment protection.”

Doyle last appeared on JMG when he condemned the Trump administration’s alleged campaign for the decriminalization of homosexuality in foreign nations because it ignores the oppressed ex-gays here at home.

Liberty Counsel has lost multiple attempts to overturn ex-gay torture bans, including twice before the Supreme Court. But that Court had a different makeup than the current one.