Judge Eboni K Williams Tears Into A Father Who Sued His Gay Son Over Conversion Therapy Costs
Judge Eboni K Williams dismissed a father’s $6,000 lawsuit against his gay son on her courtroom show Equal Justice With Judge Eboni K Williams after the man demanded repayment for conversion therapy sessions his son stopped attending. A clip of the exchange has since gone viral, racking up millions of views on social media.
A father’s $6,000 demand
The episode, which aired during the show’s third season, centres on Gregory Talbert suing his son Michael. Gregory paid for conversion therapy sessions and expected Michael to complete them. When Michael stopped going, his father took him to court.
Text messages shown during the episode painted a grim picture.
Gregory wrote to his son, “How could you betray mom and me like this? I need you to pack your things and move out.”
Under questioning from Williams, Gregory walked back his tone, telling the court he regretted the “harshness” of his words and that he loves Michael.
Williams wasn’t buying it. Visibly horrified by what Michael had been through, she threw out the $6,000 claim.
The Supreme Court just made things worse
The clip’s timing adds a bitter edge. On 31 March 2026, the US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar that states cannot ban conversion therapy for minors by restricting what therapists discuss with clients. The decision struck down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban and could put similar laws in more than 20 other states at risk.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated that “the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter. GLAAD (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) responded by saying the ruling “prioritised malice over best practice medicine.”
Before the ruling, 23 US states and the District of Columbia had banned licensed professionals from performing conversion therapy on minors. Every major medical and mental health organisation in the country condemns the practice as both ineffective and harmful, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association.
A small win against a much bigger loss
So while a TV judge was tossing out a father’s conversion therapy lawsuit on screen, the country’s highest court was clearing the way for the practice to continue. Watching Williams refuse to legitimise Gregory’s claim that his son owed him money for the experience was a satisfying moment of accountability.
Have you seen the clip yet? It doesn’t fix what the Supreme Court just did. But millions of people watched it, and that counts for something.
