WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that prohibit the widely discredited practice.
An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor in Colorado Springs who argues the state law’s ban on talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns, but didn’t strike it down. They sent the case back to a lower court to decide whether it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court, said Colorado’s law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
Gorsuch’s opinion drew support from liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
A state could similarly not ban talk therapy designed to affirm a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Kagan wrote. “Once again, because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,” she wrote.
In a solo dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that states should be free to regulate health care, even if that means incidental restrictions on speech. The decision, Jackson wrote, “opens a dangerous can of worms” that “threatens to impair states’ ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect.”
Gov. Jared Polis, in a statement, decried “conversion therapy” as inhumane and said the high court’s ruling will restrict Colorado’s ability to protect LGBTQ people’s right to medical treatment.
“Colorado is for everyone, no matter who you are,” Polis said. “Conversion therapy doesn’t work, can seriously harm youth, and Coloradans should beware before turning over their hard-earned money to a scam. I am evaluating the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and working to figure out how to better protect LGBTQ youth and free speech in Colorado.”
Latest religious discrimination case to reach court
The decision is the latest in a line of recent cases in which the justices have while taking a skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.
Counselor Kaley Chiles, with support from President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, said the law wrongly bars her from offering voluntary, faith-based therapy for kids.
Chiles contends her approach is different from “conversion therapy” practices from decades ago, like shock therapy. Her attorneys argued that the ban makes it hard for parents to find therapists willing to discuss gender identity with kids unless the counseling affirms transition.
“This ruling means Colorado cannot insert itself into the counseling room and silence important views that clients want to hear,” Chiles said in a video call with reporters. “…Kids deserve better than a one-way path to dangerous body-altering drugs and surgeries, and more counselors should say so.”
But health organizations around the world — including the , the and the — have denounced “conversion therapy” and pointed to the harms of trying to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including increased risks of depression, sexual problems, low self-esteem and suicide.
“Conversion therapy is unsafe, ineffective and rooted in the dangerous lie that LGBTQ+ kids must be ‘fixed,’” said Claudia Pérez, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ director of public affairs. “…This ruling is not an isolated blow; it is part of a sweeping and coordinated effort to undermine LGBTQ+ safety and autonomy across the country, echoing recent decisions restricting evidence‑based care for transgender young people.”
Colorado argued in the Supreme Court case that its law does allow wide-ranging conversations about gender identity and sexual orientation and exempts religious ministries. The state says the measure simply bars using therapy to try to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations, a practice that has been scientifically discredited and linked to serious harm.
Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement that “conversion therapy” has long been rejected as “unsafe and ineffective,” and that the state’s law is meant to protect minors.
“For generations, states have set and enforced standards to ensure that licensed professionals provide safe and appropriate care,” Weiser said. “We strongly disagree with the courtap reasoning and are carefully reviewing the decision to assess its full impact on Colorado law and on our responsibility to protect consumers and patients.”
The law doesn’t violate the First Amendment, Colorado argued in the case, because therapy is different from other types of speech since it’s a form of health care that the state has a responsibility to regulate.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ people condemned the ruling, as well as “conversion therapy.”
Tamora Tanniehill, director of programs and services of Rocky Mountain Equality, said she was “sickened” by the ruling.
“Holding state regulations on pseudoscientific practices such as conversion therapy to a strict scrutiny standard is far-reaching, unethical and poses meaningful risks to the ability of state governments and professional associations to regulate dangerous and disproven medical practices,” she said. “This decision is another strategic step to further dismantle and undermine life-saving professional and healthcare standards that protect privacy and families’ abilities to make health care decisions.”
‘A significant win for free speech’
The 2019 law carries the possibility of fines and license suspension, but no one has been sanctioned under it. The ruling is expected to eventually make similar laws in other states unenforceable.
Chiles was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization that has appeared frequently at the court in recent years. The group also represented a Christian website designer who successfully challenged Colorado’s anti-discrimination law because she didn’t want to work with same-sex couples.
“Kids deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made,” Alliance Defending Freedom chief legal counsel Jim Campbell said in a statement Tuesday morning. “The U.S. Supreme Courtap decision today is a significant win for free speech, common sense and families desperate to help their children.”
Colorado legislators are sponsoring a new bill that would allow people to pursue civil action against licensed mental health professionals or anyone who hired them for damages sustained while undergoing “conversion therapy.” The bill, , would allow the victim to bring the civil action at any time.
Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver, and Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, the House sponsors of the bill, shared their disappointment with the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday.
“We will say it loud and clear — conversion therapy does not work, and many mental health and medical organizations agree that conversion therapy is ineffective and harmful,” the statement read. “The LGBTQ+ community already faces higher rates of depression and suicide, and conversion therapy only makes things worse.”
Twenty-three states have laws barring health care providers from offering “conversion therapy” for minors, and another four have some restrictions, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an advocacy group that tracks policies that impact LGBTQ+ people.
The high court agreed to hear the case after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the law. Another Atlanta-based appeals court, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, had struck down similar bans in Florida.
