3Stories - April 5, 2026

Kaley Chiles is a counselor in Colorado, a believer in Christ who desires to offer Biblically-based counsel.  As Alliance Defending Freedom stated last year:

Many of Chiles’ clients come to her because they share her Christian faith. These clients believe their lives will be more fulfilling if they grow comfortable with their bodies rather than pursuing a path of harmful drugs or surgeries. Yet Colorado law censors Chiles from speaking words her clients want to hear and insists that counselors can only help young people by encouraging them to identify inconsistent with their sex. After Chiles filed a lawsuit challenging the law and a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled against her, ADF attorneys asked the nation’s high court to hear the case, which it agreed to do.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court overwhelmingly ruled in Chiles' favor - by an 8-1 margin.  ADF summarized following the ruling: "...the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that counseling conversations are speech and that states cannot silence viewpoints in the counseling room."  The court, in its majority opinion, said that Colorado's law "...censors speech based on viewpoint. Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.” 

I've been following this unfortunate case out of Ohio, in which a local church, Dad's Place in the city of Bryan, desiring to minister to the homeless in its community, found itself on the opposite side of city officials and its pastor was arrested.  First Liberty noted: "For almost three years, the City of Bryan, Ohio has been attempting to shut down the Church’s ministry through multiple criminal and civil proceeding, including 18 criminal zoning charges, middle-of-the-night fire inspections, and both criminal and civil fire code prosecutions.  And while city officials demand the church install an expensive fire suppression system, the city does not require any of its motels, most of its apartment complexes, and even a senior living facility to install fire suppression systems in their buildings."

First Liberty announced: "Judge James D. Bates of the Court of Common Pleas of Williams County issued a final order dismissing with prejudice a lawsuit brought by city officials in Bryan, Ohio, seeking to shut down the religious activities of Dad’s Place and Pastor Chris Avell.  The decision allows Dad’s Place, a Bryan, Ohio church, to continue operating its temporary shelter ministry free from interference by the city. "

It his ruling, the judge wrote: "...the Court concedes that the Fire Chief’s enforcement of the fire code fails because it lacks a compelling interest and isn’t the least restrictive means of enforcing fire safety. The City has given waivers to other businesses like hotels, but has refused to give the church a similar accommodation. This is fatal under strict scrutiny. Therefore, a judgment in favor of Dad’s Place must be entered.”

Jaden Ivey was once a player with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA, but no more.  He had made a dramatic profession of faith in Jesus Christ and decided to comment on the team's embrace of LGBTQ ideology, writing, according to Todd Starnes: 

“The world can proclaim LGBTQ, right?” Ivey told viewers via livestream on Monday morning. “They proclaim Pride Month. And the NBA, they proclaim it. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month, to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it in the streets. Unrighteousness.”

Starnes reported that Ivey no longer has a job because of "conduct detrimental to the team."  This decision has reverberated throughout the sports world, with a number of players showing support for the now-waived player.

Isaac Beck of the Changed Movement, writing for The Christian Post, stated:

The league marches in New York City pride parades, adorns arenas with rainbow logos, hosts Pride Nights, and promotes institutional affirmation of LGBT lifestyles. These initiatives are not private opinions. They are top-to-bottom corporate campaigns designed to weave ever so blatantly into the very fabric of the game.
Yet when a young player like Jaden Ivey uses his own personal social platform to confess biblical truth and dissent from league orthodoxy, the response was immediate termination. The double standard could not be clearer. The NBA welcomes, amplifies and institutionalizes certain ideological messages while treating traditional Christian convictions as toxic and potentially career-ending. One can give God a blanket thanksgiving at a post-game press conference, but if you reference personal transformation or a reality check on sin, pack your bags.

He took Bulls' coach Billy Donovan to task, saying, "Donovan expressed concern that the young man might be struggling mentally."  Beck wrote: "...publicly confessing biblical truth on social media is now being framed as a potential sign of mental instability. When a Christian athlete shares from his faith, the league’s response is not honest disagreement but an insinuation that something must be wrong with his mind."