Wisconsin Supreme Court Clears Way to Ban Conversion Therapy

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has cleared the way for a ban on LGBTQ+ conversion therapy, deciding that a Republican-controlled legislative committee rule blocking bans on the practice was unconstitutional.

The court ruled 4–3 Tuesday that the powers granted to the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules had violated the state constitution.

At the heart of the case, brought by Governor Tony Evers, was the committee’s decision to block a 2020 rule by the state administration that listed conversion therapy—the practice of forcibly convincing LGBTQ+ people that they are straight—as “unprofessional conduct.” The committee decided that the rule was “arbitrary and capricious,” and failed to comply with “legislative intent.” Republicans in support of the committee’s decision insisted that the issue wasn’t the conversion therapy policy, but whether the state licensing board had the authority to ban the practice.

The state Supreme Court’s decision effectively blasted a hole in the issue, stripping the committee of its ability to independently impede the executive branch. And the decision will have long-lasting implications for Wisconsin, far beyond the scope of conversion therapy.

The court’s ruling has effectively upended several other attempts by the committee to block Evers’s agenda, including blocks on new environmental regulations, updates to commercial building codes, vaccine requirements, and public health policy.

Although conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn sided with the majority, he warned in a partially dissenting opinion that the decision went too far and would spur a “hornet’s nest of constitutional issues,” arguing that stripping the committee’s ability to block executive branch directives would reverse years of court-set precedent.

“The majority adopts one of those arguments in an opinion that is devoid of legal analysis and raises more questions than it answers,” Hagedorn wrote.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler flamed the court for pursuing a “misguided quest” to restructure the state government.

Evers, however, celebrated the judicial smackdown.

“It’s pretty simple—a handful of Republican lawmakers should not be able to single-handedly and indefinitely obstruct state agencies from doing the people’s work,” Evers said in a news release. “Wisconsinites want to protect our constitutional checks and balances. Today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision ensures that no small group of lawmakers has the sole power to stymie the work of state government and go unchecked.”

The Badger State Supreme Court has twice now been the center of attention for out-of-state conservatives worried that a liberal majority of justices would overturn right-wing measures such as an abortion ban and allegedly gerrymandered congressional districts. The two most recent Supreme Court elections have resulted in some of the most expensive judicial campaigns in history, including a massive funding push from Elon Musk during the election in April.