Ex-LGBTQ leaders at California rally oppose ‘conversion therapy’ counseling restrictions

CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 14:39 pm (CNA).

When Ken Williams was 17 years old, he struggled with suicidal ideation because he was torn — he was a Christian, but he also had same-sex attraction.

“My faith convictions were that God wanted me to live a life not including those letters [LGBTQ],” he said at a press conference on Thursday where he and many others shared their testimonies on the steps of the California state capitol. 

When his church and family helped connect him with a Christian psychologist, Williams started his path to healing. He went on to meet with the counselor weekly for five years. 

“I was never suicidal after that,” he said. “I got to know God as the one who forgives and has grace for my struggles.” 

Williams gathered together with others at the rally to oppose legislation regulating counseling and therapy for youth who struggle with same-sex attraction — a hot-button issue that is currently being deliberated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Through his relationship with God — and with the support of a good counselor — Williams recovered from the LGBTQ lifestyle after more than a decade of wrestling with same-sex attraction. 

“I moved on years later, quite a few years later, fell in love with this beautiful girl,” he said. “We’ve been married for almost 19 years. I have four children — it’s incredible what God has done in my life.”

Williams went on to co-found a ministry known as the Changed Movement, an international community of people who no longer identify as LGBTQ and have been changed through their relationship with Christ. 

But under recent legislation that has been pushed in California and other states, Williams’ therapist could have been committing a crime by encouraging him to follow not his sexual desires but his faith. 

‘Conversion therapy’ or counseling freedom?

The phrase “conversion therapy” is a highly politicized term with dark implications. Members of the Changed Movement, along with other like-minded ministries, say it doesn’t represent what they do.

Joe Dallas, an ex-gay activist turned pastoral counselor who works with men and women “who are committed, devout Christians and also are experiencing attractions to the same sex,” described those who seek out such counseling: “There’s a conflict between their sexual desires and their beliefs.” 

“They choose to prioritize their beliefs,” he said at the press conference in Sacramento on Thursday morning, which was organized by the Changed Movement and the California Family Council.

Dallas said he supports people being able to “seek out people who share their worldview and will help them pursue their goals,” but he is aware that a growing number of people oppose this for LGBTQ people.

“They would look at what we do as something they call — rather sinisterly — conversion therapy,” Dallas explained.

California is the first state to have implemented laws banning so-called “conversion therapy,” though many other states have since followed suit. In total, 27 states ban or restrict what they call “conversion therapy for minors.”

Jennifer Roback Morse, a Catholic economist and founder of the interfaith pro-family coalition the Ruth Institute, said “counseling freedom” is fundamental because “we’re affirming a truth about what it means to be human in the first place.”

“When you have a thought or a feeling, you have a choice about what meaning to assign that feeling,” Morse said. “You have a choice about what behavior to engage in, and you have a choice about how to understand yourself and what label you do or do not pin upon yourself.”

These laws can limit what therapists can say during therapy, requiring therapists to affirm LGBTQ inclinations or transgender ideology, even if the patient does not want that. 

Counseling bans are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Chiles v. Salazar, a landmark case that could make bans on so-called conversion therapy unconstitutional. 

Wayne Blakely, a Christian and an advocate for the Changed Movement who formerly identified as gay, said that so-called conversion therapy isn’t what people make it out to be. 

He noted that there are “so many people, members of many Christian congregations, who only know the lies as it relates to conversion therapy.” 

“But there are actually counselors out there, around the world, wanting to engage you if you desire to engage with Jesus Christ, and they will lead you and help you walk with Jesus,” Blakely said.

The Changed Movement is one of several groups that has ardently opposed “conversion therapy” legislation. They gathered this week to celebrate the June 12 anniversary of the failure of a 2018 California bill that would have deemed their efforts and stories “fraudulent,” according to speakers at the event. 

They also gathered to bring awareness to the reality that some LGBTQ people leave the lifestyle to follow Christ — but to do so, they often need the support of counseling. 

“We just need space to be able to follow our own convictions,” Williams said.

One phrase was repeated by several Changed members as they shared their testimonies: “We exist.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264729/ex-lgbtq-leaders-at-california-rally-oppose-conversion-therapy-counseling-restrictions