LGBT

Christian Counselor Brian Tingley Wins Free Speech Victory

For the first time in five years, Christian counselor Brian Tingley is free to counsel his clients without fear of legal penalties.

On Thursday, August 13, Washington state agreed not to enforce its counseling censorship law banning so-called “conversion therapy” against Tingley, a significant victory for free speech in the Evergreen State.

“There is an epidemic of mental health issues among young people today,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “They and their parents often come to Brian Tingley because they feel most comfortable with a counselor who shares their faith, yet the state prohibited these voluntary conversations.”

Widmalm-Delphonse added,

We’re pleased Washington has agreed that Mr. Tingley should be free to speak. It will allow young people to get the help they desperately need while his case proceeds.

Tingley is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 20 years of experience helping both adult and minor clients. He engages solely in talk therapy: listening to clients, asking them questions and helping them pursue psychological and behavioral changes according to their desires and goals.

As a part of his practice, Tingley helps minor clients struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction and sexual identity confusion.

But in 2018, Washington state passed a law banning “conversion therapy” – prohibiting counselors from assisting clients “become more comfortable with [their] biological sex” or reduce same-sex attractions, thoughts, identities and behaviors.

Tingley fought back in federal court, filing a lawsuit in 2021, seeking to vindicate his constitutional rights. He is represented by attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom.

He argued the state’s law – requiring counselors speak only state-approved messages on homosexuality and transgenderism – violated the First Amendment.

Washington state isn’t the only government entity with such laws on the books; other states and localities have also enacted counseling speech codes. But thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, those laws are on a collision course with the U.S. Constitution.

In March, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor, who sued over Colorado’s counseling censorship law, concluding the law violated the Constitution.

“The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,” Justice Gorsuch wrote for the majority.

“It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth.”

Since Chiles, counseling censorship laws have fallen like dominoes in various court decisions across the country. The development in Tingley’s case represents yet another victory for Christian counselors.

Thanks to the new agreement, Tingley is now free to contribute to the marketplace of ideas until his case reaches a final settlement. That’s a victory for Tingley, his clients in need of help, and everyone’s free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

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.

Related articles and resources:

What Is ‘Conversion Therapy’?

Counseling for Sexual Identity Concerns: A Measured, Careful, and Compassionate approach.

Court Revives Lawsuit Challenging Washington’s Counseling Censorship Law

Washington Counselor Asks Court to Protect Free Speech

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Counseling Censorship Case

Christian Counselor Sues for Right to Talk to Minors About Same-Sex Attraction, Gender Identity Issues

Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.

Legal Aid Groups Demand Virginia Schools Comply With Title IX, Supreme Court Decisions

America First Legal (AFL) and the Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC) sent a joint letter to all 132 Virginia school districts “to educate them about recent legal changes on matters affecting sex and ‘gender identity’ within public schools.” 

AFL, a nonprofit law firm defending Americans’ constitutional rights, explained in a press release that schools have obligations to comply with Title IX and two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Mirabelli v. Bonta. Otherwise, “they could face significant legal and financial liability” for violating Title IX and the First and Fourteenth Amendments. 

The letter to the school districts, a seven-page legal memo, warned that not following B.P.J. and Mirabelli “could subject a school district to the loss of its federal Title IX funds, formal investigations by the federal Department of Education, and lawsuits by aggrieved students and parents, as well as the Department of Justice.”

B.P.J. was a landmark decision, handed down in June 2026, where the Court ruled that states are allowed to protect girls and women’s sports with laws separating sports based on biology.

AFL stated that Virginia schools are violating Title IX if they privilege boys who claim to be girls over female students: 

In five Northern Virginia school districts, for example, girls who are uncomfortable sharing locker rooms and bathrooms with biological males are expected to find separate facilities. AFL’s letter explains that this is sex discrimination under Title IX and that in B.P.J., the Court made clear that under Title IX, “sex” refers to biological sex, not “gender identity.”

It’s not just girls who want to keep sex-segregated facilities. Boys want their privacy, too. Title IX and the decision in B.P.J. protect them from unwanted invasion of their private spaces by girls who claim to be boys. 

Districts had been relying on a 2020 court case, Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, to allow students access to facilities based on their self-proclaimed “gender identity,” rather than on their sex. Gavin Grimm was a female student who “identified” as male and was denied access to boys-only facilities. The United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said this violated Grimm’s equal protection and Title IX rights.  

However, as the legal memo explained, Grimm has been overruled by the Supreme Court’s sensible decision in B.P.J.: 

Now, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in B.P.J., Grimm is no longer viable authority.

FFLC is the legal arm of The Family Foundation, a Focus on the Family ally that works on behalf of life, marriage, parental rights, free speech and religious freedom. The organization noted that the Court’s rulings “fundamentally altered the legal landscape” for school districts. 

Mirabelli v. Bonta was an important victory for parents, with the Court ruling against California policies requiring schools to hide information about a child’s sexual identity confusion. The Court said parents were likely to succeed in their challenge to state policies which “cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.” 

As a result, as FFLC President Victoria Cobb stated in a press release announcing the letter, “Virginia school boards no longer have any legal excuse for policies that put politics ahead of the law and ignore students’ and parents’ rights.” 

AFL and FFLC’s memorandum explained that schools will face consequences for ignoring Mirabelli: 

School districts that maintain policies allowing staff to facilitate a student’s social transition without notification to and consent of his or her parents can face liability pursuant to the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

The letter “summarizes the governing law, explains why many existing policies should be reevaluated, and identifies steps your school division should take now to reduce legal exposure.”  

Among other demands, the memorandum called on school boards to: 

• Review all policies governing athletics, locker rooms, restrooms and overnight accommodations to ensure eligibility is based on biological sex.

• Rescind any policy allowing staff to facilitate a student’s social transition without parental notice or consent. 

• Remove references to Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board as authority supporting “gender-identity”-based access to sex-separated facilities. 

• Consult legal counsel regarding potential conflicts with recent case law.

• Assess pending litigation risk and revise policies before they become the subject of administrative complaints or federal lawsuits.

Both AFL and FFLC concluded their letter with a warning: 

Founding Freedoms Law Center and America First Legal will continue to monitor Virginia school divisions’ compliance and are prepared to represent parents and students whose rights have been violated by unlawful policies or practices.

Related articles and resources: 

Barrett v. Kagan: Key Takeaways From Supreme Court Ruling on ‘Transgender’ School Policies

Blockbuster Supreme Court Ruling: Girls Sports Are for Girls

Clarence Thomas: There are Only Two, Unchangeable Sexes

Education Department Finds Northern Virginia School Districts Violated Title IX

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents

Federal Judge Rules Against Bathroom Privacy

Feds Open Yet Another Title IX Investigation Into Loudoun County Schools

Loudoun County Schools Defy Education Department Over Multiple Title IX Violations

Poetic Justice: Virginia school district loses federal funding day after bogus suspension.

Supreme Court Affirms Parents’ Rights Over California’s ‘Transgender’ School Policies

Top 5 Moments From Supreme Court Arguments Over Girls Sports

What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?

Christian Parents Allegedly Caused ‘Mental Injury’ by Rejecting ‘Transgender’ Identity

The ongoing war on reality has claimed many victims in recent years, including a family who recently moved from Oregon, where state officials removed a sexually confused minor from the home because the mother and father refused to affirm a lie.

David and Nicole Calaway relayed the tragic story to our friends at the Daily Signal. Back in July 2024, Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) claimed the Calaways were causing “mental injury” to their then-15-year-old daughter, K.A.

How so?

It seems that David and Nicole, who are Christians, did what responsible mothers and fathers do when a child, who is developing their own worldview, expresses thoughts or convictions that are clearly in theological error.

Part of the Calaways’ “conversation” with K.A. included them showing her a video that explained the “trans” delusion. While activists would disagree, there is no such thing as a “transgender” person. There are two sexes – male and female. That’s a biological fact.

Nicole Calaway has told reporters the videos included testimonials of “detransitioners” – the heartbreaking, real-life examples of once sexually confused individuals who are now attempting to reverse the surgeries and procedures, which often leave their bodies mutilated and marred. Nicole said she shared the stories “because I wanted her to make an informed decision. I did not want her to ruin her body. I still do not want her to ruin her body.”

The Calaways have an older daughter who is also sexually confused and had moved out of the family home prior to K.A.’s removal.

Apparently, ODHS officials were just as confused and misled as K.A. when a counselor informed them that the mother and father had been sharing this biological truth with their daughter, prompting the agency to step in.

In a letter to the parents, ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods wrote: “Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning.”

The phrase “psychological functioning” is an umbrella term that refers to how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Ironically, Mr. and Mrs. Calaway’s commitment to sharing God’s truth is the very best way to ensure their daughter grows up to think clearly, reason critically and discern truth. Contrast their commonsense approach with ODHS’ insistence on enabling delusional thinking and it’s especially galling and outrageous.

David Calaway has asked the million-dollar question: “When did the truth become mental injury?”

“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” Nicole Calaway reflected. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.”

The Calaways have filed a lawsuit claiming their free speech and religious freedom under the First Amendment have been violated. In addition to seeking financial damages, they are asking to be removed from child abuse and sex offender registries. Their case is expected to be heard by a judge in September. 

Now living in Florida, it’s been two years since David and Nicole Calaway have seen K.A. While working to right the wrong done to them, the heartbroken couple is speaking out in the hope of helping others. “We just want to bring awareness out there to parents everywhere that this is happening,” they recently stated.

The “trans” delusion is real and devastating, impacting more and more people thanks to bureaucratic bullies and radical activists whom it appears have been given up “to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28). Please join us in praying for justice for those impacted and for truth to prevail.

House Advances ‘Chloe Cole Act’ Banning ‘Transgender’ Procedures For Minors

Advocates for children’s well-being celebrated the House Judiciary Committee’s vote in favor of the Chloe Cole Act. The bill, HR 7651, bans irreversible, body-mutilating ‘transgender’ procedures for minors. 

The legislation also allows children damaged by these interventions to bring a civil suit against health professionals, hospitals or clinics up to 25 years after their 18th birthday. Parents or guardians may also file lawsuits. 

The Act, sponsored by Missouri Rep. Bob Onder, has 86 sponsors and passed out of the committee on a strict party-line vote of 15-8 on June 15. 

Cole, whose body was irreparably injured by ‘transgender’ medical procedures, applauded the victory on X, saying “Thank you @JudiciaryGOP for standing up for future generations!”

HR 7651 defines specific harmful ‘transgender’ medical interventions that would be banned for minors and would allow for civil suits, including: 

  • Intentionally delaying, halting, or disrupting the natural development of the individual’s body, including the onset or progression of puberty, so that it does not develop or halts developing to correspond to the individual’s sex.
  • Changing the individual’s body, including the individual’s external appearance or biological functions, to no longer correspond to the individual’s sex.
  • Providing puberty blockers or opposite sex hormones.
  • Surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs.

On June 3, Cole testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a hearing titled, “Protecting Our Children: Exposing the Dangers of Irreversible Gender Transition Procedures on Minors.” 

She told the committee: 

As a child, I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and underwent medical transition as a minor, including puberty suppression, cross-sex hormones, and an irreversible double mastectomy.

Cole was only 15 when she underwent surgery to remove her breasts, explaining that these interventions did nothing to help her sexual identity confusion:

The peace and self-acceptance I was promised did not come. I am now almost 22 years old, and I live every day with the consequences of decisions made when I was a minor.

Cole listed the bodily harms she has suffered from the transgender medical industry: 

I have scars where healthy breasts used to be. I did not complete normal female puberty. I experience pain in my knees and hips that I associate with the treatment I received. I still live with trauma from what was done to my body. There are periods when I feel numb, have flashbacks, or experience nightmares.

She went on to explain that children “lack the maturity” to make decisions “that permanently alter their bodies and may affect their fertility, sexual function, and lifelong health.” She described her regret and the harassment she has received for speaking against harmful procedures. 

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, testified in favor of the bill, saying: 

The harm any such ban would cause to transgender young people and their families is profound and unjustified.

Minter, a female attempting to live as a man, ignored the paucity of evidence in favor transgender interventions. And she completely overlooked recent studies and reviews, from Sweden, Finland, the U.K. and the U.S., showing the deep harms of medicalizing a mental health issue.

Dr. Kurt Miceli, MD, chief medical officer of Do No Harm, detailed the weak evidence for inflicting these medical procedures on children and stated they are “ideologically driven rather than grounded in emerging evidence.”

A companion bill, S 2907, has been sponsored in the Senate by Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn. 

Focus on the Family offers a one-time complimentary consultation with our ministry’s professionally trained counselors. The consultation is free due to generous donor support.

To reach Focus on the Family’s counseling service by phone, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor to return a call to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Related articles and resources: 

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

American College of Pediatricians: No Benefits From ‘Gender-Affirming’ Interventions

FTC Begins Investigating ‘Gender-Affirming’ Medical Community for Deception, False Advertising

HHS Finalizes Report Finding Sex-Rejecting Procedures Harm Minors

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

Florida Sues Medical Groups for Promoting ‘Transgender’ Mutilation of Children

New Research Shows ‘Transgender’ Identity Dramatically Driven by Immaturity

Medicalizing Gender Confusion Makes Things Worse, New Research Confirms

Resources for families struggling with wrong-sex identification

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

UK Bans Puberty Blockers for ‘Transgender’ Minors

U.K.’s Review of Child Gender Policy Reveals Profound Failures That U.S. Still Defends

Senators Introduce ‘Stop the Sexualization of Children Act’

Congress is considering legislation to prohibit schools from using federal money for sexually explicit and transgender materials in classrooms.

Senators Jim Banks, James Lankford and Tommy Tuberville introduced the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act in the Senate. Representative Mary Miller sponsored the bill in the House, where it has already passed the Committee on Education and Workforce by a party-line vote of 18-13.

In a press release, Tuberville said of the proposed legislation, HR 7661:

Exposing children to sexually explicit material in classrooms is completely inappropriate and a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars. I will continue to work with my colleagues to remove this kind of content from our classrooms to protect the innocence of our young people.

Tuberville’s statement explained the need for the bill:

Research has shown that exposure to sexual content at a young age can increase the risk of early sexual activity, unsafe sexual practices, and other risky sexual behaviors. In recent years, concerns have grown among parents regarding sexually explicit materials, activities, and themes being introduced in schools.

HR 7661 is supported by Christian and conservative groups like Family Research Council, Family Policy Alliance, Moms for America and American Principles Project.

The American Library Association (ALA) opposed the legislation to protect children. President Sam Hemick issued a statement expressing disappointment the bill had passed the House committee, saying:

H.R. 7661 is a dangerous bill that steals the power to choose what kids read away from parents, local communities and well-trained educators and librarians, and gives it to politicians in Washington, D.C. Congress is not authorized to make decisions about what kids read in school, and it is not allowed to interfere with the rights of states and communities to control their own schools.

As previously reported by the Daily Citizen, the ALA believes it is “banning books” to keep graphic and disturbing content out of public schools. The organization’s “Library Bill of Rights” states that children should have access to whatever books they want and they deserve “privacy and confidentiality” – including from parents – in those decisions.

Stop Sexualization of Children amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to read:

No funds under this Act may be used to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, including any program, activity, literature, or material that exposes such children to nude adults, individuals who are stripping, or lewd or lascivious dancing.

It labels “sexually oriented material” as material that:

(i) includes any depiction, description, or simulation of sexually explicit conduct (as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 2256(2) of title 18, United States Code).
(ii) involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism.

The federal statute cited, 18 U.S. Code § 2256, defines “sexually explicit conduct” for child exploitation laws. Schools could no longer use federal funds to pay for materials that depict explicit sexual activity and lewd behaviors.

HR 7661 makes allowances for “classic works of art” in the classroom which may contain nudity, citing art listed in the Smarthistory’s guide to Advanced Placement Art History as acceptable.

The legislation makes clear that “classic works of literature,” which may contain mild sexual content, are not included in the restricted books but are available to older students. It lists works found in “Great Books of the Western World,” published by Encyclopaedia Britannica; “Classics Every Middle Schooler Should Read,” by Thomas Purifoy Jr.; and “Classics Every High Schooler Should Read,” by Mary Pierson Purifoy.

There are literally hundreds of good options for teachers; there is no need to expose minors to books that detail graphic sexual activity.

Banks said in a press release, “The American taxpayer should not be funding sexually explicit content for minors, it’s that simple.”

Miller expressed the need to protect children from false and confusing “transgender ideology, saying, “Our taxpayer-funded schools exist to educate children, not expose them to sexually explicit material or promote the false idea that a child can be born in the wrong body.”

Related articles and resources:

American Library Association Chooses Marxist Lesbian as President-Elect

‘Banned Books Week’ – What a Fraud

Equipping Parents for Back-to-School

National Education and Library Groups Co-Sponsor Transgender Reading Day for Elementary School Children

Plugged In Book Reviews

Resources When Your Child Encounters LGBT Ideology at School

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Classroom and Library Books

Three Ways the Media Supports Sexually Explicit, Inappropriate Books for Children

What Gender-Confusing Books Did You Read in School Today, Johnny?

Photo from Getty Images.