Following a new decree signed last month, Virginia officials will now allow talk-based ‘conversion therapy’ as part of an agreement with a conservative religious group that sued over the state’s ban on the practice.

In 2020, Virginia passed a law banning so-called ‘conversion therapy’, describing it 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.”

Christian counsellors John and Janet Raymond, a married couple, brought a case against Virginia’s health department and counselling board in September 2024, arguing that the ban violated their right to free speech and religious freedom. The couple was represented by the Founding Freedoms Law Center, a right-wing advocacy group that upholds “faith-based insights” from counsellors as equal to medical-based insights.

They claimed that, before the law banning conversion therapy in Virginia was passed, they had been able to perform “talk therapy with minor clients” to “align” them to be cisgender and/or heterosexual. However, the ban compelled them to cease these forms of counselling for minors “out of concern it would be prohibited ‘conversion therapy.’”

A Henrico Circuit Court judge sided with the couple on the case, signing the consent decree on June 4, a copy of which was published this week. The Virginia Department of Health Professions entered the decree with the Founding Freedoms Law Center, saying state officials would not enforce the ban on conversion “talk therapy”.

This reversal will allow parents in Virginia to subject their LGBTQ+ children to talk-based conversion therapy to better align with their religion. Other conversion practices, such as electroshocks or nausea-based “aversion” procedures, remain banned.

Shaun Kenney, a spokesperson with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, which represented the health department, welcomed the decree. “This court action fixes a constitutional problem with the existing law by allowing talk therapy between willing counsellors and willing patients, including those struggling with gender dysphoria,” Kenney said in a statement.

“Talk therapy with voluntary participants was punishable before this judgment was entered. This result—which merely permits talk therapy within the standards of care while preserving the remainder of the law—respects the religious liberty and free speech rights of both counselors and patients.”

This decision comes despite the fact that conversion therapy has been scientifically discredited, with many medical and pediatric organisations—including the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and the American Counseling Association—raising concerns about its dangerous effects.

Several studies have shown that people who are subjected to conversion therapy often develop “significant long-term harm” as a result. This includes depression, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, and internalised homophobia or transphobia.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, who backed the 2020 bill, spoke against the decree. “This was a statute that was enacted to save lives,” he told reporters. “All the research, all the professional psychiatric organizations have condemned conversion therapy. They say it doesn’t work, and they say it’s counterproductive.”