April 10 2026, 08:15 
A Christian dad took his son to a TV court for $6,000, claiming his gay son owes him the money because he didn’t attend the entirety of a summer conversion therapy program.
The story appeared on a recent recirculated episode of Equal Justice with Judge Eboni K. Williams, a court-TV show. Dad Gregory Talbert said that he caught his son, Michael Talbert, kissing another boy the previous year when Michael was still 17-years-old. Gregory showed Judge Eboni K. Williams text messages where he threatened to kick his minor child out if he didn’t stop being gay.
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Michael apologized to his father and promised he’d “do whatever you need me to do.” Gregory responded, saying, “Let’s fix this.”
Several days later, Michael found a religious conversion therapy program and told his dad about it. The program would last for three months and would require him to be present every weekday from 8 to 5.
“If I go to the program, can I continue living here?” he asked his dad.
Gregory says he paid for the program because he liked the idea of turning his only child straight. He mentioned that he was very happy when he learned that his child would be a boy so that he would have someone to carry on his family name, something that, as a very religious Christian in the Memphis area, was important to him.
Well, the program didn’t work, and a month into it, Michael wanted to leave. He texted his dad, who refused to let him stop.
“Son, it was your idea to go to this program,” Gregory texted back. “You need to finish what you started. I spent $6,000. Money doesn’t grow on trees. How am I going to teach you how to be a man if you don’t keep your promises? Just follow the rules and you’ll be cured in two more months.”
Michael eventually escaped the program and went to stay with the friend he had previously kissed. His dad was furious and texted him to “pack your things and move out.”
Gregory was asking the court to make his son reimburse him for the $6,000 that the conversion therapy program cost. Judge Williams dismissed his claim, pointing out that Michael only said he wanted to go because he was worried about being thrown out of his home as a minor.
In an emotional moment, Judge Williams took Michael aside and affirmed that he deserves a family that loves him.
“Young man, you are not cursed,” she told him. “You are as loved and as worthy, Michael, as your father, your mother, and everyone else who gets the privilege to reside on this earth, young man. And I don’t care what your daddy says…. I don’t care what some stupid conversion therapy says, which is nothing but a bunch of hoopla and a scam and a money grab for young, vulnerable men like yourself.”
“I see you. You are valuable.”
It’s unclear when the episode first aired, but it has been getting attention on social media recently since it was just uploaded to YouTube. Equal Justice debuted in 2023.
Courtroom television shows are not actual courtrooms and therefore don’t have to follow the same rules as real courts. Equal Justice bills itself as a “small claims court arbitration” show. Arbitration is a private process in which a neutral third party hears both sides of a dispute and issues a decision that may be binding if the parties agreed beforehand to follow it. Arbitration is not the same as civil litigation.
Williams’ Wikipedia page identifies her as a lawyer and a TV host, not as a judge who has been elected or appointed in any jurisdiction. So it’s probably more accurate to think of courtroom TV shows like Equal Justice as talk shows that use a judicial-style format to tell a story.
But the problems with conversion therapy that the show presented are real. Conversion therapy has not been demonstrated to be able to turn LGBTQ+ people straight or cisgender, are often run by members of the clergy or lay ministries in a religious context, and both children and young adults are often badgered into going into them because they want to be good kids for their parents or even worry about being thrown out to the streets before they’re ready to support themselves.
Research has shown that LGBTQ+ youth are twice as likely as straight youth to face homelessness. Conversion therapy is associated with increased depression, anxiety, substance abuse risk, and suicidality.
The episode never explained how aware Michael’s mother was of the conversion therapy or what her reaction is to it now that her son has moved out.
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