The state of Michigan agreed last Thursday to abandon its ban on anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy following a federal judge’s decision against it. This makes Michigan the first state to say it will stop enforcing its conversion therapy ban in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar earlier this year.
“Michigan will never support any practice that harms or shames LGBTQ+ youth,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office said in a statement. “The governor will continue to fight to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected from attacks and that their voices are heard.”
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In 2023, Michigan passed a law banning state-licensed mental health professionals from attempting to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors, making it the 22nd state to do so. Like most conversion therapy bans, Michigan’s did not address conversion therapy practiced by unlicensed coaches, members of the clergy, or lay ministries, which make up the vast majority of conversion therapy practitioners.
Shortly after, the Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale Counties sued the state to overturn the ban, saying it violates their free speech and free exercise of religion rights.
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U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering, who is presiding over the lawsuit in Michigan, declined to grant an injunction against the conversion therapy ban last year, but it was overturned in December 2025 by an appeals court. This was the first time an appeals court ruled against a state conversion therapy ban.
Colorado has a similar conversion therapy ban and faced a similar lawsuit, and the Supreme Court ruled in March that therapists have a free speech right to practice conversion therapy on children. The Court didn’t immediately overturn Colorado’s ban. Instead, it sent it back to a lower court to review it again, which means that Colorado’s ban is still in place.
Following those rulings, Beckering ruled on July 30 that Michigan’s conversion therapy ban violates the First Amendment. Beckering called Michigan’s case “materially identical” to the Colorado lawsuit
The state of Michigan agreed to stop enforcing its ban, making it the first state to have its conversion therapy ban nullified post-Chiles.
“Conversion therapy is a destructive, demoralizing, and debunked practice that medical experts agree increases the risk of suicide and depression in the young people forced to endure it,” said out Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a statement. “If therapists are permitted to harm their clients under the guise of ‘free speech,’ it’s only a matter of time before other licensed professions receive their own carveout.”
Nessel said her office is considering whether to appeal the decision.
While Michigan agreed to stop enforcing its conversion therapy ban, it’s unclear whether that ban was ever enforced in the past. The fact that Colorado’s conversion therapy ban was never enforced was brought up in its defense in Chiles, and conversion therapy activist Wayne Besen told LGBTQ Nation earlier this year that no state conversion therapy ban has ever been used to end a conversion therapy practice.
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