The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) on June 3, 2025 joined with the American Psychological Association (APA), the Michigan Psychological Association (MPA), and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) to submit an amicus brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale Counties and Emily McJones v. Gretchen Whitmer et al. (2025).
The question before the Court relates to whether a state can regulate licensed individuals in a way that may impact their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and practice of religion. This case will determine the constitutionality of Michigan House Bill HB 4616, which bans licensed mental health professionals from performing conversion therapy on minors within the state. A lower court ruled that HB 4616 is constitutional, but Catholic Charities has appealed the decision. With this amicus brief, NASW provides the court with the current scientific understandings surrounding the harms of conversion therapy and advocates for providing culturally appropriate, comprehensive health and mental health services relating to gender and sexual identity.
Amicus Brief
For decades, professional medical and mental health associations have understood that differences in gender and sexual identity are part of the natural diversity of human experience and are not forms of a disorder. The APA has issued multiple reports on conversion therapy, each time finding that the practice is almost always ineffective and is often associated with worsening mental health. When compared with conversion therapy, care that affirms gender and sexual identity has historically provided more positive outcomes. This is especially true for minors, as they can be more susceptible to the negative mental effects of conversion therapy. Young people may not have the same sense of autonomy as adults and may have less experience dealing with the negative emotions, internal pressures, and external pressures that commonly come with conversion therapy.
NASW moves to support the LGBTQ+ community in all aspects of social work. Allowing for conversion therapy to be an option, when it has shown over time to lead to negative outcomes, would be acting against our core belief of advancing policies and practices that provide culturally appropriate, comprehensive health and mental health services to the LGBTQ+ community. Affirming care is the widely accepted standard when treating the negative thoughts and feelings associated with issues such as gender dysphoria, and to allow clinicians to deviate from this treatment in a way that has shown to be detrimental to patients would be against the express mission of NASW. In accordance with our amicus brief, we urge the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the ruling of the District Court and allow the ban on conversion therapy to continue in Michigan, regardless of personal or religious belief.
