A psychotherapist filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Maryland's ban on treating minors with conversion therapy, a controversial practice that attempts to change clients' sexual orientation.
Christopher Doyle sued Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and state Attorney General Brian Frosh in U.S. District Court in Maryland, saying the ban violated his rights to free speech and the practice of religion, and the rights of clients "to prioritize their religious and moral values above unwanted same-sex sexual attractions, behaviors, or identities."
The attorney general's office said Friday that it could not speak to the lawsuit because it had not yet seen it.
Last year, Maryland became the 11th state to ban conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths. Other state legislatures, including New York's on Tuesday, have since passed similar bans.
When Maryland legislators were considering the ban last year, then-Delegate Meagan Simonaire told colleagues that her father -- a state senator who had spoken in favor of keeping the practice legal -- and her mother had suggested to her when she was in her early 20s that she try the therapy to "fix" her bisexuality.
"It's like a punch in the gut," Meagan Simonaire said of the lawsuit. "After we've come so far, it's very disappointing, and scary."
Republican state Sen. Bryan Simonaire later said that he and his wife wanted their daughter to seek Christian counseling, not conversion therapy.
Meagan Simonaire subsequently switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democratic, but said she decided not to seek another term because her views had changed so much. While she doesn't rule out running for office again, for now she is working as a tattoo artist in northern Virginia.
She said her experience, seeking counseling from several pastors, made her realize how damaging conversion therapy can be, even when practitioners don't call it that.
"It says 'you're broken and we need to fix that,'" said Meagan Simonaire, who said she now identifies as queer with a preference for women, although she's had relationships with men in the past.
Her father did not respond to a request for comment. Meagan Simonaire said that while they may have had differences, "we love each other."
Doyle said in an interview that the ban prevents him from helping minors who have an "unwanted same-sex attraction."
"A counselor has to say, 'I understand you have sexual feelings you don't want. I can't help you,'" said Doyle, who lives in Virginia and practices there and in Maryland. "If your goal is to change your sexual attraction, that's not a goal you can have in Maryland. You'll have to work on something else until you're 18."
The American Psychological Association is among the groups that oppose conversion therapy. It said it "does not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed, and efforts to do so represent a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment which have not been scientifically validated and by undermining self-esteem when sexual orientation fails to change."
"No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation; nor, from a mental health perspective does sexual orientation need to be changed," the association's statement said.
Doyle's suit says the association, in considering its stance on conversion therapy, only "tolerated" viewpoints that "endorsed same-sex behavior as a moral good." Additionally, it did not "recommend any religious resources that adopt a traditional or conservative approach to addressing conflicts between religious beliefs and sexual orientation."
The lawsuit quotes a former president of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Nicholas Cummings, who has similarly said the group did not consider the viewpoints of those who support conversion therapy. He has said "hundreds" of patients he oversaw were successful in changing their sexual orientation.
Doyle said he has two offices in Northern Virginia, but works with Marylanders in their homes or at retreats. He said he sees patients who are happy with being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer but have other issues, and also those who are uncomfortable with their attraction to same-sex individuals. Not many clients, Doyle said, are minors.
He is represented by the Florida-based Christian group, Liberty Counsel, which has challenged conversion therapy bans elsewhere in the country. The group is opposed to abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and represented Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to marry such couples. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Liberty Counsel as a hate group against the gay and transgender community, though Liberty Counsel executives dispute that.
Mark Procopio, executive director of FreeState Justice, an advocacy group for gay and transgender people, said the legislation banning conversion therapy "is based on sound medical and psychological research and expertise."
"Existing federal case law shows that legislation like this seeking to protect minors from these harmful practices are constitutional and do not infringe on religious freedoms," Procopio said. "No religious belief allows state-licensed practitioners to harm children under Maryland law."
A Section on 01/20/2019