A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday put a hold on a new California law that bans therapy focused on turning gay minors straight. The court issued an injunction until it can hear full arguments. The law was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Licensed counselors who practice “reparative therapy” and two families who say their teenage sons have benefited from it sought the injunction after a lower court judge refused the request. The law, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, states that therapists and counselors who use “sexual orientation change efforts” on clients under 18 would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by state licensing boards. This month, two federal judges in California arrived at opposite conclusions on whether the law violates the Constitution.