Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge to Washington State LGBT Conversion Therapy Ban

The Supreme Court refused on Dec. 11 to take up a challenge to Washington state’s ban on LGBT conversion therapy—over the objections of three conservative justices who dissented. The therapeutic practices, which are banned in many states, aim to make patients heterosexual or change their gender identity. Gender identity itself is a disputed concept. A lack of linguistic clarity has clouded legal issues in recent years as the concepts of sex and sexual identity or gender have become difficult to separate. Despite the distinct usual meanings of “sex” and “gender,” many institutions and individuals use “gender” to mean biological sex....