Christian Therapists Challenge Nebraska City’s Conversion Therapy Ban Over Free Speech Rights

October 21, 2026

Two Christian counselors have filed a lawsuit against the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, arguing that a local ordinance restricting certain therapy discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity violates their constitutional rights and exposes them to criminal penalties.

Christianity Daily reports that the complaint was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska by licensed therapists Thomas Dierks and another counselor identified in court documents as John Doe.

The plaintiffs are challenging Chapter 11.09 and Section 11.01.010 of Lincoln’s municipal code, which prohibit the practice of so-called “conversion therapy” involving LGBT-identifying minors, saying that the ordinance infringes on their freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

The lawsuit warns that counselors could face “severe sanctions, including jail time, substantial fines, suspension from practice and loss of professional licenses for each instance of using words in therapy outlawed by the ordinance.”

Attorneys representing the two therapists argue that the city’s restrictions prevent counselors from addressing certain subjects requested by their young clients, raising concerns about government interference in private therapeutic conversations.

Matt Heffron, senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, told the Christian Post, “When a child reaches out for help, Lincoln’s ordinance takes away the trusted adult he turned to and leaves him only one government-approved answer. The Supreme Court made clear that the government cannot censor a counselor’s words because it disapproves of the viewpoint they express.”

A Lincoln city spokesperson confirmed that the measure was enacted in February 2021 and that “The City Attorney’s Office has not yet filed an official response.”

The legal challenge comes after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-1 ruling in March in Chiles v. Salazar, a case involving a Colorado law restricting certain counseling conversations with minors concerning sexual orientation and gender dysphoria.

That ruling found that Colorado’s restrictions raised First Amendment concerns because they regulated counselors’ speech based on the viewpoints expressed, providing a significant legal precedent for challenges to similar measures.

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Vitaly Gariev