A South Jersey couple has launched a lawsuit against Gov. Chris Christie, saying his newly signed law that bans psychologists from counseling children away from homosexuality — the much-disputed gay-to-straight conversion therapy — is unconstitutional.
The parents, who are unidentified in court documents, say they have the right to provide aid to their teenage son, 15, “free from unconstitutional government interference,” NJ.com reported.
The parents tried to obtain the form of therapy for their son after he began “experiencing gender identity disorder when he was around nine years old,” the court complaint read, NJ.com reported. “[He’s] frequently thought of killing himself because he did not like himself. … He remembers having a bias against the male gender and thinking boys were stupid because his mother talked negatively about his father. He experienced feelings of despair because he believed that he would never be good enough if he remained a boy.”
So he started visiting with a therapist in New York who “helped him tremendously” to contain his gay feelings, NJ.com reported. The family subsequently tried to get their son in therapy with “one of the premier” conversion therapists in New Jersey, but was turned down because of the new state ban on the form of therapy.
New Jersey isn’t the first state to ban licensed therapists from performing the service. California passed a similar ban that’s since been upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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