The state of Oregon just slapped a Catholic counselor named Frank Canepa with a $90,000 fine because he wouldn’t abandon his religious convictions on command. His crime? After 2.5 years and 44 counseling sessions with a client, he declined to give his personal blessing to her lesbian relationship when she spent 20 minutes badgering him for one. For that, Oregon wants to financially destroy him.

Apparently in Oregon, “tolerance” means you will affirm what the state tells you to affirm, or they’ll take your house.

According to Just The News, the incident in question happened on July 10, 2023. The client had first broached the subject of her relationship back in November 2020, and Canepa — a licensed professional counselor — had continued treating her without issue for years. But on that July day, she demanded what amounted to a personal religious endorsement. Canepa, citing his Catholic faith, declined. The client quit sessions two weeks later.

And then the state came for him.

Oregon’s Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists dragged Canepa before the Oregon Employment Department’s Office of Administrative Hearings. Their rationale, according to Canepa’s lawsuit, was “essentially [preventing] any hurt feelings.” That’s not a paraphrase. That’s what the legal filing says. Ninety thousand dollars because someone’s feelings got hurt.

The Oregon Counseling Association piled on, calling Canepa’s religious beliefs “discredited, unsupported by science, and has no place in ethical counseling practice.” Got that? Your 2,000-year-old faith tradition has been reviewed by a state licensing board in Salem, Oregon, and they’ve determined it’s junk science. How generous of them.

They cited Rule A.4.b of the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, which states that “counselors respect the diversity of clients, trainees, and research participants.” Funny how “respecting diversity” never seems to include respecting the diversity of religious belief. That’s the one kind of diversity Oregon would like to stomp out.

Canepa is now suing in Oregon Court of Appeals, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. And if that name sounds familiar, it should — ADF has been at the tip of the spear on every major religious liberty case in the country.

This isn’t new for Oregon, either. Remember Aaron Klein and Melissa Klein? The owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery? Oregon hit them with a $135,000 fine for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Then came another $30,000 fine. The Kleins, represented by First Liberty Institute, have been under regulatory scrutiny for 13 years. Thirteen years of government harassment over a cake.

But there’s good news on the horizon. The Supreme Court recently ruled 8-1 in *Chiles v. Colorado*, stopping Colorado from punishing licensed counselor Kaley Chiles for not affirming young clients’ gender confusion. That’s an 8-1 ruling — not even close. The Court made clear that words alone aren’t just “professional conduct” the state can regulate into oblivion.

There’s also a pending petition before SCOTUS — Youth 71Five Ministries, Docket 25-776 — that could blow the door open even further on religious liberty protections.

So here’s where we are. A man counseled a client faithfully for 2.5 years. He sat through 44 sessions. He helped her. And because he wouldn’t personally bless something that violates his faith — after being badgered for 20 minutes — the state of Oregon decided he owes $90,000 and his career.

This was never about protecting the client. She left on her own. Nobody was harmed. This is about the state of Oregon demanding that you believe what they tell you to believe, or they will destroy you financially.

Frank Canepa isn’t backing down. And with ADF behind him and the Supreme Court already moving in the right direction, Oregon might want to start writing the check instead of cashing it.