Christians in China are used to living in a one-party dictatorship. Christians in the United States are not, so this spring many are gasping as the California Legislature moves toward passing Assembly Bill 2943, which makes “conversion therapy” illegal. Under the bill, which Gov. Jerry Brown expects to sign into law, it is likely to be unlawful to advise a same-sex-attracted adult on ways to fight his or her urges, even though many wish to do so (see sidebar below).

AB 2943 specifically bans “engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual,” defined as “any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”

Any counselor who receives any pay for such efforts would be liable. It would not matter whether a consenting adult requested such help. A therapist could be sued for millions of dollars in punitive damages if a client later claimed psychological harm from the treatment. The bill does not ban just one kind of therapy: “Conversion therapy” is a broad term that could encompass even the most basic of conversations between a counselor and the person seeking counsel.

AB 2943 cruised through the Democratic-controlled California Assembly (the lower house) on a largely party line vote, 50-18, on April 19. The Senate Judiciary Committee has slightly amended the bill so that it now emphasizes commercial transactions: Someone who volunteered advice would not be liable. On June 12, the committee approved the bill, 4-2, for forwarding to the Appropriations Committee (a technicality, as it is a non-spending measure). It then goes to the whole Senate, where Democrats hold a two-thirds majority, for a final vote.

Stopping it will take a miracle. Victory for this gag law will be no surprise to anyone who has followed the work of Equality California (EQCA), a multimillion-dollar pressure group that has corporate support from Microsoft, AT&T, Farmers Insurance, Southwest Airlines, Uber Eats, and more.

At the end of last year’s legislative session, EQCA boasted that California lawmakers had passed 127 of its bills. During this lawmaking term, EQCA is batting 1.000: Every bill it has sponsored has passed. Gov. Brown and all but one of the 27 Senate Democrats have a “100 percent equality score.”

EQCA is part of a pipeline. Two dozen staff members and visiting scholars at the Williams Institute (WI) at UCLA’s School of Law crank out purportedly scholarly research to promote what the gay lobby wants. They spread it with the aid of sympathetic journalists. A gay caucus in California’s Legislature applies pressure from within.