RBGG’s Sanford Jay Rosen and Ben Bien-Kahn filed an amici brief in the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on December 23, 2019 on behalf of Survivors of Sexual Orientation Change Efforts. A copy of the brief in Doyle v. Hogan, Case #19-2064, is available here: Brief Amici Curiae of Survivors of Sexual Orientation Change, 12-23-19
Maryland’s Youth Mental Health Protection Act, which was enacted in 2018, prohibits state-licensed therapists from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a patient under 18 years old. In January 2019 a federal lawsuit challenging the new law was filed on behalf of a therapist and advocate of conversion therapy.
According to RBGG’s brief: “Section 1-212.1 is necessary and appropriate to protect minors from the junk science techniques, collectively known as SOCE, that are still used more than 40 years after the mental health profession roundly rejected the idea that homosexuality is a disorder or condition that can or should be changed. Amici’s experiences show the severity of the harms SOCE inflicts. The proven dangerousness of SOCE demonstrates that Section 1-212.1 was well within Maryland’s power to regulate licensed mental health providers to protect the health and safety of their minor patients, regardless of what level of scrutiny is applied, and notwithstanding Plaintiff-Appellant’s dubious First Amendment claims.”