While raising an LGBT pride flag over the state capitol building, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he plans to defy a Supreme Court ruling on so-called “conversion therapy.”
On Monday, the Democratic governor shared his support for protecting “trans kids” and, in particular, keeping on the books a regulation that effectively bans counselors from assisting gender-confused and same-sex attracted kids.
“Let me be clear: I have no intention of repealing the ban on outdated and dangerous practice of conversion therapy on kids, period, end of story, and no questions,” he said to applause.
The rule did not pass through the legislature after committee hearings, mark-ups, and open debate.
https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/2062016247139606551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Rather, Evers issued a regulation that prohibited the practice. While the Wisconsin Supreme Court allowed the regulation to go into place in 2025, legal experts say it should fall now that the nation’s highest court ruled against a similar prohibition this year.
In the Chiles v. Salazar case, the Supreme Court ruled against Colorado’s prohibition on counselors helping minors with their same-sex attractions or gender confusion.
By an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban amounted to viewpoint discrimination, as Legal Insurrection previously reported.
The same logic could be applied to the Badger State’s regulation, according to an attorney for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
“The statewide rule is materially identical to the law that the U.S. Supreme Court just held violates the First Amendment,” Luke Berg told Wisconsin Public Radio in early April. “So if anyone were to sue against that statewide rule, it would likewise be held unconstitutional.”
He further explained the law: “It bans counselors who have a different view — and clients who want counselors who have that view — to help people who struggle with this, and don’t want to struggle with it, from getting the help that they want.”
Berg’s group ultimately did sue the state in mid-May to challenge the regulation.
His fellow attorney Rebecca Furdek said Evers’ administration ignored a request to change the rule.
“When we notified the Evers administration of this fact, we were met with a blatant refusal to follow the Supreme Court holding, along with inflammatory, baseless rhetoric accusing WILL of ‘bullying’ children and Wisconsinites,” Furdek said, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
“However, Wisconsin counselors have every right to provide Christ-centered talk therapy to the clients who seek them out for that type of counseling.”
The federal lawsuit can be viewed here.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY