UPDATE::Challenge to N.J. ban on conversion therapy appealed to U.S. Supreme Court – LGBTQ Nation

A federal appeals court decision upholding New Jersey’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBT youth has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The anti-gay legal group Liberty Counsel on Wednesday asked the court to review a September ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which upheld the New Jersey law prohibiting therapists from performing the controversial “gay to straight” conversion therapy on LGBT youth.

The lawsuit, filed by two therapists, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and the American Association of Christian Counselors, argued the law violates their right to free speech because counselors are barred from talking about conversion therapy.

Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver said that while the 3rd Circuit upheld the ban, “its discussion of the law created a circuit split on the issue of the appropriate level of scrutiny applied to regulations of professional speech and also on the issue of whether counseling in this area constitutes speech at all.”

Challenge to N.J. ban on conversion therapy appealed to U.S. Supreme Court – LGBTQ Nation