From LGBTQ Nation: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/12/federal-judge-rules-california-ban-on-conversion-therapy-can-go-forward/
Staff Reports
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by an anti-LGBT group to postpone the January 1, 2013 start of California’s new law banning controversial gay-to-straight conversion, or “reparative” therapy, for LGBT youth.
The ruling by Judge Kimberly Mueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California means that the law will go into effect as scheduled.
Mueller’s decision follows a separate decision Monday by Judge William B. Shubb, also of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, in another case brought by a different set of plaintiffs who are also challenging the California law.
In that ruling, Shubb issued an order temporarily exempting three plaintiffs in that case from being subjected to enforcement of the law while the case proceeds in his court. Shubb’s order applies only to the three plaintiffs in the case before him and does not prevent the state from enforcing the law against other licensed mental health professionals.
Mueller’s decision today clears the way for the law to go into effect on January 1, 2013.
The court also granted a motion by Equality California to intervene in the lawsuit in order to defend the law alongside California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who represents the State of California defendants. Equality California was the lead sponsor of the law and is the state’s leading political advocacy group representing LGBT people and their families.
The Court’s decision Tuesday was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) that challenges the new law protecting LGBT youth from practices — including the use of shame and aversion therapy — that are known to lead to depression and suicide attempts. The group is represented by Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBT legal group.
Continue reading at: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/12/federal-judge-rules-california-ban-on-conversion-therapy-can-go-forward/
