Conservatives in California have scored a court victory in efforts to stop a controversial law set to take effect January 1st, banning efforts by counselors to convince youth struggling with homosexuality that they can turn away from their sinful lifestyle.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an injunction Friday December 21, pending the appeal of California's same-sex attraction counseling ban. The Ninth Circuit, at the request of Liberty Counsel, blocked SB 1172 from going into effect January 1, 2013.
Founder and chairman Mat Staver explains why his firm challenged the law that forbids counselors from offering "gay"-to-straight therapy to minors in California (see earlier story).
"The minors we represent have not and do not want to act on their same-sex attractions. They are greatly benefiting from this counseling," Staver asserts. "But the state of California will essentially barge into the room of each counseling session to tell the counselor they may present only one view, and clients … may receive only one viewpoint on same-sex attractions. This is outrageous and offensive. This is clearly a violation of the First Amendment because it only allows one viewpoint to be permitted. That's a clear violation of the First Amendment," the attorney reiterates.
Liberty Counsel is fighting SB 1172 on behalf of parents, children, licensed counselors, and several groups that this law stands to affect.