Michigan just became the first state in the country to stop enforcing its conversion therapy ban, and the consequences for LGBTQ+ kids could be devastating.

On July 30, a federal judge ruled that Michigan's 2023 law, which prohibited licensed mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors, violates the First Amendment. The ruling follows the U.S. Supreme Court's 8-1 decision in Chiles v. Salazar, which found that therapists have a free speech right to practice conversion therapy on children. Michigan has now agreed to stop enforcing the ban entirely.

Conversion therapy isn't just ineffective — it's dangerous. Major medical organizations have consistently found that attempts to change a young person's sexual orientation or gender identity increase their risk of depression and suicide.

As Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated, it is "a destructive, demoralizing, and debunked practice that medical experts agree increases the risk of suicide and depression in the young people forced to endure it."

LGBTQ+ youth in Michigan deserve to be safe from this harm. Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature must act now — whether through an appeal, new legislation, or both — to restore meaningful protections for minors. Allowing this ruling to stand without a response means leaving vulnerable kids exposed to a practice that the medical community has roundly condemned.

Sign this petition to demand that Michigan restore protections for LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy — before more children are put at risk.