Christian counselors in Virginia are rejoicing as state officials have agreed to mostly lift the statewide ban on so-called conversion therapy for minors. The move applies to talk therapy.

Parties in a lawsuit against the ban agreed on a consent decree, which cites the Virginia Constitution, stating that “religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.”

The case involves two Christian counselors who filed suit against the director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions, the department itself and the Virginia Board of Counseling for prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The suit contends the ban prevents Christian counselors from acting according to their belief in the Biblical definition of gender and sexuality.

The 2020 law bans licensed and in-training counselors from engaging in what the law calls conversion therapy with patients under 18 years of age. The bill defines “conversion therapy” as “any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender.”

Many Christian therapists, Biblical counselors and those who formerly identified as LGBTQ reject the term “conversion therapy” because it is often meant to associate Christian counseling with images of arcane practices such as shock therapy.

The ban was first contested in court by John and Janet Raymond, two counselors operating a center providing Christian-based counseling. The Founding Freedoms Law Center filed suit on the Raymonds’ behalf.

The state officials agreed that the law’s enforcement violates the Virginia Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The Founding Freedoms Law Center termed the win as a “victory for free speech and religious freedom.”

Shaun Kenney, a spokesperson for Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, told news outlet WRIC in Richmond: “Talk therapy with voluntary participants was punishable before this judgment was entered. This result—which merely permits talk therapy within the standards of care while preserving the remainder of the law—respects the religious liberty and free speech rights of both counselors and patients.”

Photo: Courtesy of Founding Freedoms Law Center