Supreme Court Refuses To Review Culver City Man's Lawsuit Against 'Gay Conversion' Ban

CULVER CITY, CA -- A Culver City man's lawsuit against the ban on "gay conversion" therapy in California was refused to be reviewed on Monday by the Supreme Court of United States, allowing a lower court's ruling in favor of the law stand.

The suit was filed by the Pacific Justice Institute on behalf of a San Diego minister, a psychiatrist, and a Culver City man, who claimed he was helped by the therapy. The suit claimed that the 2012 California law prohibiting licensed mental-health professionals from providing therapies seeking to make gay and lesbian youths straight violated free speech and religious freedom rights.

California's law was the first in the nation to ban the so-called gay conversion therapy. Since then five other states have adopted a similar ban. The state argued that the law does not restrict religious leaders' rights to espouse their religious beliefs except in the case where they are acting as a state-licensed mental health professional.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state last year, letting the law stand.

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