Michigan conversion therapy ban under review from Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a ban on gender and sexuality conversion therapy for minors, but that’s not stopping the U.S. Sixth Circuit from examining the issue in Michigan, reports Bloomberg Law.

The issues the three-judge panel will explore Thursday in a Cincinnati courtroom may end up being like the free-speech ones the justices reckoned with in oral arguments for and against Colorado’s similar ban.  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the Potter Stewart United States Courthouse.

Opponents of conversion therapy say it’s a widely-discredited form of treatment that could harm gay or trans youth while supporters say it could be a therapeutic tool for individuals wanting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Bloomberg Law reports that the Sixth Court may also consider other issues such as whether the law is too vague, selectively targets religious speech and undermines the right of parents to raise their children in a religious manner.

Bloomberg Law spoke with Ryan Thoreson, an associate professor in the UC College of Law, about the case. Thoreson is a scholar of contemporary social movements around gender and sexuality, constitutional law, comparative and international law and human rights law.

Read the full story in Bloomberg Law online.

Featured image of the Potter Stewart United States Courthouse in Cincinnati. Photo provided.