US Supreme Court won't end California's "gay conversion" ban

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May 3, 2017 | Sex & Society

US Supreme Court won't end California's "gay conversion" ban

The Supreme Court of the United States has again rejected a challenge to California's ban on so-called gay conversion therapy. The law explicitly bans therapists from attempting to alter the sexuality of anyone under the age of 18.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the ban into law in late 2012. Since then, the Supreme Court has rejected efforts to upend the California law and a similar ban in New Jersey.

The latest attempt to challenge the legislation came from a San Diego minister and therapist named Donald Welch who argued the law violated his 1st Amendment protected religious freedoms.

The state countered that the "law doesn’t restrict what religious leaders can say, except in the context of a state-licensed therapy session."

The federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the law by dismissing the constitutional challenge. By refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court effectively did the same thing. (SCOTUS did not explain why it refused the case, however.)

In an ideal world, this would be the end of bigots trying to scar and scare children into being straight. Sadly, such challenges are not going to go away anytime soon.