Thomas Jefferson once said, “Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.” One could argue that in the state of Washington, officials are allowing counselors to employ neither reason nor inquiry.
Washington’s counseling censorship law explicitly violates free speech by preventing counselors from expressing one side of the debate about gender ideology. And by barring them from speaking the simple truth that a man is a man and a woman is a woman, Washington officials are suppressing both logic and reason.
Such grave violations of the First Amendment have serious consequences, both for counselors like Brian Tingley and for the clients he serves. If a young person who is struggling with gender dysphoria wants to become more comfortable with their biological sex, they are essentially out of luck in the state of Washington.
Counselors are supposed to help their clients, not push them toward becoming lifelong patients by attempting to change their gender. Washington’s law tries to force counselors to do exactly the opposite, which is why Brian couldn’t stay silent.
Who is Brian Tingley?
For many years, Brian had an award-winning career in video and news production. He primarily worked with local network affiliates, and he often took on assignments focusing on the needs of youth, family, and the community.
But in the early 2000s, Brian felt God calling him to help children and families in a different way. He completed his Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University in 2001, and the next year, he started his own private counseling practice.
In addition to being a counselor, Brian is a devoted Christian with theological training. He earned a diploma in Ministry and Biblical Studies in 1984, and he has spoken at many local churches on challenges facing children and families.
In his practice, Brian works with adolescents, adults, and couples on a wide variety of matters. While he does not impose his views on anyone, his Christian faith guides his views concerning human nature and healthy relationships.
However, the state of Washington passed a law that prevents Brian from counseling his minor clients in accordance with his beliefs.
Washington law censors counselors
In 2018, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5722 into law. It allows government officials to decide what can be said within the confidential conversations between counselors and their minor clients.
Under Washington’s counseling censorship law, if minor clients want to begin identifying as a gender different from their biological sex, Brian would be free to discuss and even encourage this so-called “transition.”
But if someone wants to affirm his or her biological reality or wants help through the emotionally and medically difficult process of detransitioning, then Brian cannot discuss these topics. If he does, it could cost him his license and livelihood.
In other words, Washington officials only want to allow one point of view on the issue of gender identity. This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment.
“I feel like Washington State is just kind of playing this game with these things, you know, as a counselor,” Brian said. “And they’re trying to stop people from getting the help that they are asking for and that they need.”
Brian pushes back against gender ideology
As a Christian, Brian believes that God created everyone either male or female and that sex cannot be changed. Many of his clients share these same beliefs, too.
“I have minor clients that come in experiencing gender dysphoria, and they want to be comfortable with their biological sex,” Brian said.
But even when these clients set goals for themselves about becoming more comfortable with the body and sex God has given them, Washington officials are prohibiting Brian from helping them reach those goals—all while pushing radical gender ideology.
In addition to violating the free speech of counselors, Washington’s law puts children in harm’s way. Research shows that far too many young people—especially girls—are steered toward transgender identification without adequate psychological evaluation and counseling.
For example, two leading surgeons, both of whom identify as transgender, expressed concern about providers engaging in “sloppy” practices in encouraging transgender identification. Brian has experienced firsthand how officials in Washington state rely on faulty premises to push these experimental procedures on children.
“They push and promote us to transition and move them towards changing their sex,” Brian said. “I realized that’s going to harm clients, and so I wanted to do something to see if we could push back on it.”
So, Brian contacted Alliance Defending Freedom, and we filed a lawsuit on his behalf challenging Washington’s counseling censorship law.
Unfortunately, a federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit both dismissed Brian’s lawsuit. ADF attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case, but it declined to do so in December 2023.
While the Supreme Court’s decision not to review Brian’s case left Washington’s law in effect for now, it did not preclude the Court from reviewing the issue of counseling censorship in the future.
Enter ADF client Kaley Chiles, a counselor challenging a similar censorship law in Colorado.
Supreme Court to hear free speech case of a counselor
Kaley is a licensed professional counselor in Colorado. She is a committed Christian who seeks to live out her faith in every aspect of her life, including her work. And like Brian, her freedom of speech is under threat due to a counseling censorship law. Like in Washington, Colorado’s law bars counselors from speaking about gender identity unless the counselors adopt the view of state officials. ADF attorneys are challenging this law on Kaley’s behalf, and in March 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
On October 7, 2025, ADF attorneys will present oral argument before the High Court. The ruling could affirm free speech protections not only for Kaley but also for counselors nationwide, including Brian.
“The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors, nor should a counselor be used as a tool to impose the government’s biased views on her clients,” said ADF CEO, President, and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner.
“There is a growing consensus around the world that adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria need love and an opportunity to talk through their struggles and feelings.”
Brian, Kaley, and other counselors who share their views should be able to provide clients with that opportunity.
We must protect free speech
For government officials to insert themselves into confidential counseling sessions—and determine which goals that clients can pursue and which topics they can discuss—is a radical violation of free speech. It’s the client’s choice to pursue a specific goal through counseling, not the government’s.
Counseling censorship laws prevent both children and adults from receiving the care they want and, in many cases, desperately need.
“If you could see the clients in my office, they’re in a lot of pain,” Brian said. “And for some of them, it’s life and death. And some of them, once you build trust with them, they feel like a counselor is the only place they can go and talk about these issues.”
State officials have no right to interfere in these important conversations between counselors and their clients. That’s why ADF is continuing to defend counselors from government censorship, including at the Supreme Court in Kaley’s case.
Will you protect free speech by giving to ADF today?
Related Articles
