MAJOR Victory: VA’s “Conversion Therapy” Ban Struck Down
The Founding Freedoms Law Center has secured a major victory for free speech and religious freedom on behalf of its clients and all Virginia counselors.
Virginia’s so-called “conversion therapy” ban is now effectively dead as a result of the Founding Freedoms Law Center’s lawsuit challenging the 2020 law on behalf of two Christian counselors, John and Janet Raymond.
Exactly five years ago today, on July 1, 2020, a new law took effect in Virginia that silenced licensed counselors from speaking the truth about gender and sexuality, and effectively prevented minors from getting the help they and their parents were seeking to resolve unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction or gender confusion. On the very same day, five years ago, the Founding Freedoms Law Center officially launched, with the express purpose of combating this and other unconstitutional laws that were infringing on Virginians’ fundamental rights.
Left to Right: Victoria Cobb (President of The Family Foundation), Josh Hetzler (Legal Counsel for Founding Freedoms Law Center), Dr. John Raymond (Virginia licensed counselor and plaintiff), Janet Raymond (Virginia licensed counselor and plaintiff)
Today, we announced that this so-called “conversion therapy” ban has been effectively struck down. The Henrico County circuit court entered an Order to permanently enjoin the Commonwealth from penalizing counselors for engaging in basic talk therapy with minors for the purpose of helping them to align their sexual feelings and behaviors with biological reality and human design. Talk therapy consists of voluntary conversations, prayer, and sharing of written materials such as Scripture between a counselor and client. Both the intention and effect of this law were to prevent such talk therapy from happening.
Significantly, the court’s Order doesn’t just apply to John and Janet Raymond, who challenged the law, but to all licensed Virginia counselors.
You can view the Court’s Order HERE.
The parties in this case, including the Virginia Department of Health Professions, its Director, and the Board of Counseling, all agreed that enforcing this law against the provision of talk therapy would violate the Virginia Constitution as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
With this Court Order, every counselor in Virginia will now be able to speak freely, truthfully, and candidly with clients who are seeking to have those critical conversations about their identity and to hear faith-based insights from trusted professionals. The growing number of parents who are seeking guidance for their struggling children, in an era where gender dysphoria has become a contagion among young people, will finally be able to find knowledgeable counselors, like the Raymonds, who can offer help.
This is a major victory for free speech, religious freedom, and parental rights in Virginia. We are honored to stand with John and Janet Raymond, who had the courage to take on this fight. We are grateful to the Defendants in this case and to the Attorney General, who did the right thing by siding with the Constitution. And most of all, we thank God for providing this favorable result to protect the conscience of every Virginia counselor.
Learn more about the Court’s Order from our Frequently Asked Questions Memo.
For more information about this case, including a link to the Complaint we filed, see: FFLC Files Lawsuit Challenging Virginia’s “Conversion Therapy” Ban