Christian therapists sue Nebraska city over therapy ban that threatens imprisonment, sanctions
Two Christian therapists have sued the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, over an ordinance that threatens up to six months of jail time for counseling clients who come to them for help with their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Licensed therapists Thomas Dierks and a second counselor identified only as John Doe filed a complaint against Lincoln city officials last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.
At issue are Chapter 11.09 and Section 11.01.010 of Lincoln’s municipal ordinances, which ban the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBT-identified minors.
The lawsuit argues that the ordinances violate the First Amendment’s free speech protections. It also claims they are unconstitutionally vague under the 14th Amendment, meaning they don’t clearly tell therapists what is and isn’t allowed.
“In close relationships built on a strong foundation of trust and openness, Plaintiffs have seen their clients achieve great improvements in relationships, as well as in personal stability and happiness, simply by talking [through] the personal challenges they face,” the complaint states.
The complaint continues: “In passing the Ordinance and refusing now to repeal it, Lincoln governmental officials seek to insert themselves into the privacy of Plaintiffs’ counseling rooms and to censor Plaintiffs’ discussions with and exploration of certain ideas initiated at the requests of their young clients.”
According to the complaint, the ordinance threatens "severe sanctions, including jail time,
substantial fines, suspension from practice and loss of professional licenses for each
instance of using words in therapy outlawed by the ordinance."
The Christian Post reached out to Lincoln city officials for comment. A city spokesperson said the ordinance was passed in February 2021, adding, “The City Attorney’s Office has not yet filed an official response.”
Matt Heffron, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, which is helping represent the therapists, said in a statement that Lincoln officials must follow current legal precedent.
“When a child reaches out for help, Lincoln’s ordinance takes away the trusted adult he turned to and leaves him only one government-approved answer,” Heffron said. “The Supreme Court made clear that the government cannot censor a counselor’s words because it disapproves of the viewpoint they express.”
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado could not stop licensed counselors from helping minors who seek to change their sexual orientation, or from helping minors with gender dysphoria accept their sex.
Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, wrote a concurring opinion — a separate opinion agreeing with the outcome — noting that if Colorado had passed “a viewpoint-neutral law, it would raise a different and more difficult question.” A viewpoint-neutral law is one that does not favor one side of a debate over the other.
“Once again, because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,” Kagan wrote. “We need not here decide how to assess viewpoint-neutral laws regulating health providers’ expression because, as the Court holds, Colorado’s is not one.”
