Brian Tingley, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Tacoma, Washington, is also a Christian who wants to help children confused about their gender or peer-pressured into “transitioning.” But the state calls this “conversion therapy.”
Counselors must refrain from any talk therapy that doesn’t affirm a child’s confusion — even if the child seeks this sort of help.
Tingley wanted to stop enforcement of the ban, but a court dismissed his lawsuit in 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his case. But his fight wasn’t over.
Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor in Colorado, filed a lawsuit against the state over a similar ban on conversion therapy. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor in May 2026. The court contended that Colorado’s ban was unconstitutional.
In light of the high court’s decision, Tingley asked a court to re-open his case.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), his legal counsel, announced on Friday that a federal court agreed to re-open the case and heard arguments on Thursday.
“There is an epidemic of mental health issues among young people today. 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,” said Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, senior counsel at ADF.
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
