Dierks v. City of Lincoln: Nebraska Counseling Ban Lawsuit

Christian counselors challenge the Lincoln, Nebraska counseling ban

Two Christian counselors are challenging the Lincoln, Nebraska counseling ban, a city ordinance that lets counselors guide a minor toward gender transition but threatens jail for helping that same child embrace his or her biological sex. Thomas More Society filed the federal lawsuit, Dierks v. City of Lincoln, on October 6, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.

The Christian counselors behind the lawsuit

Thomas Dierks is a Catholic counselor who has practiced for more than 27 years. The second plaintiff, a Christian counselor named in the lawsuit as "John Doe," specializes in helping children and young adults. Both use only talk therapy, welcome faith into the conversation when a client wants it, and let their clients set their own goals.

What the Lincoln counseling ban does

Lincoln adopted its "Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Change Efforts" ordinance in 2021. The ordinance, which also uses the label "Conversion Therapy," bars licensed counselors from talk therapy that seeks to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity, even when the young person asks for that help. At the same time, it expressly permits counseling that assists a minor "undergoing gender transition."

Counselors who help a child find peace with his or her body face:

• Up to six months in jail and a fine for each violation, with each day counted as a separate offense
• Civil penalties and damages
• Discipline against their professional licenses

"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," said Matt Heffron, Senior Counsel at Thomas More Society.

How Chiles v. Salazar applies to Lincoln

In March 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's nearly identical counseling ban discriminated based on viewpoint as applied to talk therapy. Two weeks later, Thomas More Society put Lincoln on notice to repeal its counseling ban. In July, attorneys gave the City a final opportunity to avoid litigation by agreeing not to enforce the ban against talk therapy. Lincoln chose to keep the ordinance on the books, and the counselors filed suit.

What the lawsuit asks the court to do

The complaint argues that the ordinance:

• Violates the counselors' First Amendment right to free speech in counseling
• Violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion
• Is unconstitutionally vague under the Fourteenth Amendment

It asks the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and block its enforcement. Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Matt Heffron and Michael McHale represent the counselors.