Latest news and developments in the mission to protect children from gender ideology:
Federal Court Reopens Washington Counseling Freedom Case: A federal court reopened Tingley v. Brown, allowing a constitutional challenge to Washington’s counseling ban to proceed following the Supreme Court’s Chiles v. Salazar decision affirming that voluntary counseling conversations are protected by the First Amendment.
UK Court Decision Allows Unethical New Puberty Blockers Trial: ACPeds criticized a UK court’s decision allowing a new clinical trial of puberty blockers for minors, warning that exposing physically healthy children to these drugs is unethical given their significant risks for irreversible brain damage and sterility.
Michigan Will No Longer Enforce Counseling Ban: Michigan has agreed to permanently stop enforcing its ban on voluntary counseling for minors experiencing same-sex attraction or sex-identity distress following the Supreme Court’s Chiles v. Salazar decision protecting counselors’ free speech rights.
Michigan Physician Assistant Wins Religious Freedom Settlement: A Michigan physician assistant won a $410,000 settlement after being fired for declining to use preferred pronouns or facilitate sex-rejecting interventions, prompting her former employer to adopt stronger religious accommodation protections for employees.
Federal Court Reopens Washington Counseling Freedom Case
Alliance Defending Freedom announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has reopened Tingley v. Brown, a constitutional challenge to Washington state’s law prohibiting licensed counselors from helping minors who voluntarily seek counseling to resolve sex-identity distress or live consistently with their moral beliefs about sexuality.
The decision follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, which held that counseling conversations are protected speech and that states may not censor counselors based on viewpoint.
UK Court Decision Allows Unethical New Puberty Blockers Trial
A UK court ruled that King’s College London may proceed with a randomized controlled trial of puberty blockers for children ages 11 to 16 experiencing sex-identity distress, despite ongoing concerns about the drugs’ safety.
Dr. Michelle Cretella, the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds’) Adolescent Health Council Co-Chair, said that ACPeds and other organizations deplore this decision due to the unacceptable risk profile of puberty blockers:
“Using puberty blockers for minors with sex-identity distress puts physically healthy children at risk for irreversible brain damage and sterility. This study is entirely unethical.”
Read the Puberty Blocker Risk FACT SHEET here.
Michigan Will No Longer Enforce Counseling Ban
On July 31,2026, Michigan has agreed to permanently stop enforcing its ban on voluntary counseling for minors experiencing same-sex attraction or sex identity distress following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar, which held that a Colorado ban on voluntary counseling was unconstitutional because it violated free speech protections.
The agreement, reached after Catholic Charities challenged the law in federal court, includes a permanent injunction preventing Michigan from enforcing the ban.
Michigan Physician Wins Religious Freedom Settlement
Christian physician assistant Valerie Kloosterman reached a $410,000 settlement with University of Michigan Health-West after she was fired for declining, based on her religious beliefs, to use preferred pronouns or participate in or refer patients for sex-rejecting interventions.
As part of the settlement, the hospital adopted a policy that employees with sincerely held religious beliefs “will not be required to personally affirm statements about gender identity,” will not “be required to participate in procedures, medications, or referrals” for sex-rejecting procedures, and “will not be required to use pronouns in a way that violates their religious beliefs or conscience.”
