Help Bible-Believing Counselors Stand Against Government Censorship
The government has no business censoring conversations between clients and counselors. But that’s just what the state of Washington is doing to Brian Tingley.
Brian just wants to help others as they face various struggles or pain in their lives.
As a licensed marriage and family counselor in Washington, he works with married couples, adults, teens, and families to reach the goals they set for themselves in their counseling sessions.
But the state of Washington has decided that Brian cannot do this. According to the state, he cannot help his clients who are minors reach goals they set for themselves IF those goals are opposed to the state’s approved views on gender, sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, or gender identity.
Washington’s overreach is alarming; if the government pries into and censors conversations as sensitive and confidential as those between a counselor and client, what’s to keep the government from intruding into conversations between husbands and wives, or parents and their own children?
Washington is also preventing Brian’s clients from receiving counsel consistent with their faith. Brian is a Christian, and so are many of his clients. Often, they seek out his counsel precisely because they know his religious beliefs align with theirs, and he’ll help them live how they want. Washington is basically telling Brian that he can’t counsel his clients in the way they themselves would like to be counseled.
The state has no right to dictate what counselors can and cannot say in private conversations. If Washington is given a pass to censor speech in so blatant a way as this, our freedom to discuss beliefs about human sexuality or gender identity—our free speech—will be at stake.
If Brian or other counselors in Washington discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in ways that the government doesn’t like, they face fines of up to $5,000 per violation—or even permanent loss of license.
Washington doesn’t get to censor speech it disagrees with—free speech is for everyone.
Brian knew the government was attempting to violate his free speech rights and the rights of his clients, so he reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom for help.
The government has no business invading Americans’ private conversations and attempting to dictate their language. Not only is the government violating free speech, but it is also preventing others from getting the help they so desperately want. If the government is allowed to control private conversations between counselors and their patients, what’s to keep the government from intruding into your privacy?
Alliance Defending Freedom has taken Brian’s case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We’re waiting to hear if the Court will hear his case.
Supreme Court cases can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars from beginning to end. We cannot defend Brian in court—free of charge—without the help of people like you!
Give today to help fund this case and stand with Brian Tingley to protect free speech and the fundamental rights of every American. We cannot let the government so radically violate freedom.