Court Revives Lawsuit Challenging Washington’s Counseling Censorship Law
A federal court reopened Christian counselor Brian Tingley’s case challenging Washington’s counseling censorship law.
“This isn’t just a vindication for Brian. It’s a ray of hope for counselors, kids, and families in Washington state,” Kristen Waggoner, president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote on X.
“Kids with gender distress deserve compassionate, professional care – not a one-way counseling script mandated by the state.”
Tingley, a licensed marriage and family therapist, helps both adult and minor clients facing myriad issues by providing simple talk therapy. He asks questions, listens empathetically and offers suggestions to those struggling.
As a Christian, Tingley believes God made human beings male or female, every person should seek to identify with their sexual identity, and marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
Tingley regular helps Christian clients struggling with “transgenderism” or unwanted same-sex attraction. He helps them work towards their goals of “becom[ing] more comfortable with [their] biological sex” or “reducing [same-sex] attractions [to] … live in a manner consistent with … their Christian faith.”
In 2018, however, Washington enacted a law banning counselors from providing this kind of therapy – wrongly termed “conversion therapy” – for minor clients.
Tingley filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent enforcement of Washington’s law in 2021. After a district court dismissed his case, Tingley appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court which declined to take up his case in 2023.
However, in March 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian counselor in Colorado, and against an essentially identical Colorado counseling censorship law.
Colorado’s law banned “conversion therapy” for minors, prohibiting Chiles, and all counselors, from helping minor clients seeking hope and healing from unwanted sexual identity confusion and same-sex attraction.
Under Colorado’s law, counselors were allowed to speak only state-approved messages encouraging clients to embrace homosexual thoughts, feelings and behaviors, or a new “gender identity” different from their biological sex.
This kind of viewpoint discrimination – where the state picks and chooses which messages individuals can express – runs afoul of the First Amendment’s free speech clause, the Court concluded.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the Court’s majority, said laws like Colorado’s “represent ‘an egregious form of content discrimination’ where First Amendment concerns are at their most ‘blatant.’”
He added,
Following the Court’s ruling in Chiles, Tingley asked a Washington district court to reopen his case. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has now agreed to do so.
“There is an epidemic of mental health issues among young people today,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, who added,
Tingley isn’t the only Christian counselor whose lawsuit has received new life following Chiles.
Michigan has agreed to stop censoring counselors who provide talk therapy for minors; two Missouri Christian counselors’ case will be reheard; and Oregon counselor Frank Canepa had a $90,000 fine against him withdrawn.
All individuals seeking hope and healing in Christ should be able to find assistance with a counselor. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar, the dominos against counseling censorship laws are starting to fall nationwide. Let’s hope and pray that continues.
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.
Related articles and resources:
Michigan Ends Unconstitutional Ban on Talk Therapy for Sexually Confused Minors
Appeals Court Reverses Decision Against Christian Counselors
Oregon Withdraws $90K Fine Against Christian Counselor
Washington Counselor Asks Court to Protect Free Speech
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
Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.
