Democrat-run Michigan just backed down after threatening therapists who use talk therapy to help children with ‘gender dysphoria’ accept their biology.
On Thursday, the state agreed to a permanent federal court order barring it from ever enforcing House Bill 4616 – the 2023 law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, that threatened licensed counselors with discipline for engaging in ordinary talk therapy with minors experiencing gender dysphoria. U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering signed off on the stipulated judgment, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the counselors who sued, wasted no time declaring victory according to the Daily Caller.
Interestingly, a year and a half earlier the same judge sided with the state.
Backstory
Whitmer signed HB 4616 and its companion bill in July 2023, making Michigan the 22nd state to bar mental health professionals from what the statute broadly defined as “conversion therapy” for minors – not just efforts to change sexual orientation, but any “efforts to change behavior or gender expression.” At the time, Whitmer said Michigan was “banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy” and pitched the law as making the state more welcoming for LGBTQ kids.
Then the law met the constitution… Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties, joined by Lansing therapist Emily McJones of Little Flower Counseling, sued in 2024, arguing the ban was viewpoint discrimination dressed up as medical regulation. Judge Beckering initially sided with the state, denying a preliminary injunction in February 2025. The counselors appealed – and won.
Late last year, the Sixth Circuit reversed her, becoming the first federal appeals court in the country to block a statewide “conversion therapy” ban of this kind. Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote for the majority that the state’s theory “faces strong headwinds as applied to counseling that consists solely of spoken words.” Judge Rachel Bloomekatz, a Biden appointee, dissented, arguing the ban was likely constitutional because every major medical association treats “conversion therapy” as illegitimate care.
Hellbound and Down 