A conservative Christian legal organization is facing accusations of deception as it prepares to defend so-called “conversion therapy” before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group long known for challenging abortion rights and LGBTQ+ protections, will argue in Chiles v. Salazar that state bans on conversion therapy for minors should be struck down. But the researchers, Lisa Diamond and Clifford Rosky, whose work the group cites, say ADF distorted their findings.
Clifford Rosky, co-author of the 2016 study misused by ADF, said, “It’s deceptive…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.” ADF quoted passages noting that “sexual orientation changes for many people,” but omitted the key point that such change “occurs outside the context of [conversion therapy].” The study actually concludes that conversion therapy is “not only ineffective… but psychologically damaging.”
Conversion therapy has been condemned by every major medical association and labeled a “serious threat to health” by the World Health Organization. Researchers Lisa Diamond and Rosky have filed a brief with the Court to correct what they call “profound misrepresentations.” Diamond said, “That’s what’s diabolical about [ADF] using me…They know they are misrepresenting my views. … This case could do some real harm to the very individuals we’ve spent our lives trying to protect.”
