After U.S. Supreme Court ruling, what’s next for Michigan’s conversion therapy ban?

By Justin Fox Clausen
Capital News Service

LANSING — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors is unconstitutional.

And that decision has implications for Michigan’s own “conversion therapy” law, experts say.

“Conversion therapy” is the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations. It is occasionally referred to as “reparative therapy” by advocates for the practice. 

The 8-1 Supreme Court decision said the Colorado ban violated therapists’ First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

“Talk therapy is a medical treatment. So, why wouldn’t such speech-based medical treatments be subject to reasonable state regulation like any other kind of medical care?” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said in a solo dissent. 

Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project, said that although the “talk therapy” portion of Michigan’s ban appears to be invalid, other forms of “conversion therapy” that involve prescribing medications or adverse therapy remain in effect. 

“We know how harmful talk-based conversion therapy is,” Kaplan said.

“The ruling still does not give it credibility, and individuals still have a right to bring a malpractice action against a therapist for doing it,” he said, although minors cannot bring a malpractice suit on their own.

Kaplan said that even before the Supreme Court’s decision, Michigan’s law included provisions to allow counseling aimed at changing a minor’s sexuality or gender identity if it took place in a religious setting. 

Attorney General Dana Nessel called the ruling disappointing and harmful.

“Medical experts have long debunked conversion therapy as a destructive, demoralizing and debunked practice which increases depression and the risk of suicide for LGBTQ+ youth,” Nessel said in a press release.

Emme Zanotti, the senior director of movement and political affairs for Equality Michigan, said the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision is not yet clear. 

Equality Michigan is an LGBTQ+ rights advocacy organization with headquarters in Detroit. 

In December, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing Michigan’s ban on “conversion therapy” while awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision. That case was filed by Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties. 

Zanotti said that the next step is to ensure that survivors of “conversion therapy” have the opportunity to seek justice and damages for the harm caused by the practice.

“There’s a very concerted effort by the folks who advocate for conversion therapy to try and conflate it with other things,” she said.

Zanotti said that the practice of “conversion therapy” is misleading, especially for parents who lack exposure and education about LGBTQ+ communities and issues. 

“I don’t think that parents going out and looking for, say, a conversion therapist, are necessarily doing it in bad or malicious faith. We should name the practice for what it is, which is incredibly deceptive,” she said.

Zanotti said that parents should know that support for LGBTQ+ youth is connected to lower suicide rates and better mental health outcomes.

— Capital News Service is a wire service based out of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. It provides weekly stories to member publications, including daily and weekly papers and online news outlets. Capital News Service is part of MSU’s Spartan Newsroom, and it creates opportunities for student journalists to get experience working in a professional setting.