The group fighting to protect so-called conversion therapy in the U.S. Supreme Court case Chiles v. Salazar has been accused of misrepresenting its evidence by the very researchers it cites. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group that has played a pivotal role in several court cases involving abortion access and LGBTQ+ rights, will argue before the nation's high court Tuesday that justices should strike down state laws banning conversion therapy for minors.The group cites a 2016 study by Lisa Diamond and Clifford Rosky, who have since condemned the ADF for “profoundly” misrepresenting their findings. “It’s deceptive,” Rosky recently told The Guardian. “Lawyers owe a duty of candor to the court. You cannot offer false evidence, and if you do so accidentally and find out, you have to correct that. ... They claim our work supports conversion therapy when our work clearly and specifically condemns conversion therapy on the same page they’re citing.”
Distorting science to demonize the LGBTQ community is an old anti-LGBTQ industry tactic. And the Alliance Defending Freedom isn't the first group to do it. However, it may not even matter because of the news brief below.
Conservative Supreme Court justices show skepticism of conversion therapy ban - This is becoming an unfortunately regular occurrence with this particular Supreme Court. Almost every time our community comes in front of them, we lose. I doubt it's a matter of basic legality. It's my belief that there are members of the court who have a personal bias against LGBTQ people and will contort decisions to reflect that bias.
The sham of oral arguments on conversion therapy is meant to show SCOTUS is 'unbiased'- Should we lose this case, we should be pointing the finger at one judge in particular who revealed his anti-LGBTQ hostility years ago - Samuel Alito.
LGBTQ rights on the line: What to watch as Supreme Court’s new term begins - And conversion therapy is not the only case in front of SCOTUS. I'm sorry but I do not believe that the number of losses the LGBTQ community has had in front of SCOTUS lately comes from legitimate looks at the law and the Constitution. Members of this court have a personal bias, which they aren't afraid to voice. We need not dance around it.