Washington Counselor Asks Court to Protect Free Speech
Brian Tingley, a Christian counselor in Washington state, is seeking the restoration of his constitutional rights after the recent U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision protecting counselors’ speech, Chiles v. Salazar.
Tingley is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 20 years of experience who counsels adult and minor clients. He engages only in talk therapy: listening to clients, asking questions and helping them pursue behavioral changes according to their desires and goals.
As a Christian, Tingley affirms the Bible’s teachings on relationships, sexuality and marriage.
However, Washington state – prohibiting so-called “conversion therapy” – makes it illegal for Tingley to help minor clients leave unwanted homosexuality or embrace their biological sex. Washington requires him – and all counselors – to speak only in a state-approved way, pushing clients towards homosexuality or “transgenderism.”
This kind of speech code, however, is a clear violation of the First Amendment’s free speech clause.
On March 31, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a momentous decision striking down Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. Colorado’s law is essentially identical to Washington’s.
“While the First Amendment protects many and varied forms of expression, the spoken word is perhaps the quintessential form of protected speech,” Justice Gorsuch wrote for the Court’s majority in Chiles v. Salazar. “And that is exactly the kind of expression in which Ms. Chiles seeks to engage.” So too with Brian Tingley.
Justice Gorsuch added, “The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
As a result of the Court’s decision in Chiles, Tingley – who had previously challenged Washington’s law in court but lost – is asking a lower court to reconsider his case. He is being represented by attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
“Washington’s law bans voluntary conversations based on the state’s ideological crusade to impose gender ideology and to reject common sense,” said ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton, director of the Center for Conscience Initiatives. “This is censorship pure and simple, and it violates the First Amendment — as affirmed recently in an 8-1 Supreme Court decision.”
Frampton added,
Tingley isn’t the only counselor looking for his First Amendment rights to be restored in the wake of Chiles.
In May, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Terri Koschnick and Joy Buchman, licensed counselors who are challenging the Badger State’s law prohibiting counselors from helping minor clients with unwanted same-sex attraction and sexual identity confusion.
Hopefully, counselors nationwide will soon – thanks to Chiles – be free to help all individuals seeking to live according to a biblical sexual ethic. The Daily Citizen will keep you updated on important developments.
The case is Tingley v. Brown.
If you or someone you know is struggling with homosexuality or transgenderism, Focus on the Family offers a one-time complimentary consultation with our ministry’s professionally trained counseling staff. The consultation is free due to generous donor support.
To reach Focus on the Family’s counseling service by phone, call 1-800-A-Family (232-6459) weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor or chaplain to return a call to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
We also offer local referrals for licensed counselors who align with the mission and values of Focus on the Family.
Related articles and resources:
The Supreme Court’s ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ruling: Four Truths You Should Know
Supreme Court Smacks Down Colorado’s ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban in 8-1 Decision
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Counseling Censorship Case
Judge Dismisses Therapist’s Lawsuit Over Ban on Counseling for Same-Sex Attraction, Gender Identity
Is Therapy to Leave Homosexuality Damaging? New Review Says, ‘No Proof of Harm’
Therapy Bans Threaten Religious Freedom, Free Speech and Parental Rights
Why We Support Therapy for Unwanted Homosexuality
Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.
