All licensed Virginia counselors can now discuss sexual and gender identity through the lens of Christianity and other religions during talk therapy with minors, because a 2020 law banning conversion therapy statewide was partially struck via court order.
The change comes after a five-year legal battle initiated by the Family Foundation — a faith-based, civil advocacy nonprofit — and its legal division, the Founding Freedoms Law Center.
Josh Hetzler, legal counsel for the FFLC, announced during a Tuesday press conference that the Henrico County Circuit Court order issued in June scales back Virginia’s ban.
State law prohibits clinical counselors from engaging in “conversion therapy” with minors, which is defined as “any practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender.”
Any licensed clinician who performs conversion therapy as it’s defined by the Code of Virginia would be “open to disciplinary action by the appropriate health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions.”
The judge’s decree exempts voluntary talk therapy from this ban.
The lawsuit was filed in September 2024 on behalf of several unnamed licensed professional counselors, including John and Janet Raymond. Plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the law, which was codified under Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, claiming it also violated the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“With this court order, every counselor in Virginia will now be able to speak freely, truthfully and candidly with clients who are seeking to have those critical conversations about their identity and to hear faith-based insights from trusted professionals,” Hetzler said during the press conference.
Globally recognized health organizations like the American Medical Association have long denounced conversion therapy as often discriminatory and abusive to people who identify as LGBTQ+, worsening health outcomes.
That’s because it assumes, according to the AMA, “homosexuality and gender nonconformity are mental disorders and that sexual orientation and gender identity can be changed. This assumption is not based on medical or scientific evidence.”
However, Hetzler asserted that Virginia’s law barred licensed counselors from engaging in voluntary conversations about gender and sexuality, too. In the Raymonds’ case, that meant the couple wasn’t allowed to conduct faith-based practice with their consenting clients.
The Raymonds own and operate the Associate Counseling Center in Front Royal, which offers counseling from “a Christian worldview.” Prior to Virginia’s conversion therapy ban, the Raymonds regularly counseled minors on a wide variety of issues, but said this law chilled their desire to continue counseling those who share their religious beliefs.
“Five years ago, our Legislature infringed on the fundamental rights of free speech and religion of every counselor in Virginia, including ourselves,” John Raymond said Tuesday. “Because of this court order, we will no longer be prevented from addressing the challenging issues of sexual identity and values held by many believers in God designed for human beings.”
Hetzler argued on behalf of the Raymonds' motives to speak with families who were seeking their style of care. Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb declared this legal outcome — which resolves the matter similarly to a settlement — a victory for those seeking to “resolve their children’s unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction or gender confusion.”
“For five years, challenging the idea that a kid might not actually be born in the wrong body, and maybe is just experiencing the results of a culture of confusion and insecurity of growing up that was illegal,” Cobb said Tuesday. “For five years, children were not allowed to be told that they were perfect just the way they were born.”
Advocates for Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth and community are dismayed by the court’s decision.
Side by Side executive director Marquis Mapp provided a statement to VPM News. Side by Side is a group with Richmond roots that aims to support parents, caregivers and family members of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.
The organization hosts support groups, and offers housing assistance and connections to counseling services across the commonwealth.
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s ruling, which weakens protections for young people against conversion therapy—a practice every major medical and mental health association has deemed harmful and unethical,” Mapp told VPM News in an email.
In light of the consent decree, Mapp said Side by Side is committed to being an alternative to any such practice.
“The growing trend of disregarding science and best practices puts LGBTQ+ youth at serious risk. With cuts to critical lifelines like The Trevor Project, we are playing a dangerous game,” Mapp said, referring to recent federal funding cuts for LGBTQ+ crisis services. “Still, our mission remains unchanged: we will continue to support families and be a trusted resource for the young people who need us.”
Shannon McKay, executive director of He She Ze and We, shared Mapp's sentiment. HSZ&W is a local nonprofit that offers educational support meetings for parents, caregivers and adult family members of transgender and gender-diverse children of all ages.
McKay co-founded HSZ&W as a means to support transgender and nonbinary people by empowering their families, allies and communities to be able to create inclusive environments. She shared concern over opening the door to conversion therapy tactics.
“I'm really concerned for LGBTQ+ youth hearing this news, especially our trans youth, who may be subjected to conversion practices which are deeply rooted in conservative Christian ideology,” McKay told VPM News. “We know that conversion therapy is harmful. There's even studies — plenty of studies — out there that say as much.”
McKay referenced a recent Stanford Medicine survey linking conversion therapy to increased depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts in LGBTQ+ adults.
Stanford Medicine spoke to over 4,000 respondents: Out of 191 people who recalled their sexual orientation conversion practices, more than 50% said the practice was spearheaded by a religious leader or organization; a little under 30% said the practice was facilitated by a mental health provider or organization.
“It's been proven that conversion therapy causes harm and increases mental health issues, bringing shame and making people hide, but they will come out later — when they feel safer,” McKay said.
When asked why Virginians would want to conduct or participate in a style of therapy that might contribute to negative mental health effects, the Family Foundation’s Victoria Cobb said that parents and children should be able to seek the outcomes and voices they wish for.
“We know that there are clear examples where it is not actually beneficial for a child to pursue gender change,” Cobb said. “We think every counselor and every child ought to get to the outcomes that they are seeking together. That's the point of counseling: client-driven outcomes.”
Cobb also said that Virginia’s “unbalanced government full of left-wing ideologues,” is what led this law to be enacted in the first place.
Meanwhile, McKay remains steadfast in her organization’s support for LGBTQ+, gender- and/or sexually-diverse people in the commonwealth.
“The LGBTQ community in general has been through so much, and they survive,” McKay said. “They exist, they've always existed and will continue to exist, no matter how many roadblocks folks like the Family Foundation and others that are basically trying to erase them from human existence. It's not going to happen.”
