Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to defend state ban on conversion therapy

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to ask the judges to uphold the state law banning “conversion therapy.”

Conversion therapy is a practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

State Bill 5722, the banning of conversion therapy, was signed into law in 2018 by Governor Inslee.

Brian Tingley, a state-licensed marriage and family therapist, is appealing the Aug. 2021 dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the law.

The case was dismissed by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan, saying the state’s interest “in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, and in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harm caused by conversion therapy.”

Previous challenges to the ban occurred in 2014 and 2016.