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Supreme Court Limits Colorado’s Conversion Therapy Ban Citing Free Speech

Supreme Court Limits Colorado’s Conversion Therapy Ban Citing Free Speech
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sharply curtailed Colorado’s ability to police “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ minors, ruling 8–1 that the state’s 2019 ban on talk‑based efforts to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity infringed a Christian counselor’s free‑speech rights nytimes +1. The decision in Chiles v. Salazar is expected to trigger challenges to similar measures in more than 20 states that restrict licensed providers from offering conversion counseling to youth cbsnews.

Colorado’s law barred licensed mental‑health professionals from using any practice or treatment, “including talk therapy,” that attempts to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, with fines of up to $5,000 and possible license discipline for violations cnn. Kaley Chiles, a Colorado Springs counselor who offers faith‑informed therapy, sued in 2022, arguing the measure prevented her from helping minors who sought to reduce same‑sex attraction or align their gender identity with their sex assigned at birth cnn +1.

Court Recasts Conversion Therapy Bans as a Free-Speech Battle

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch held that, as applied to counseling, Colorado’s statute regulates speech, not just professional conduct, and does so in a viewpoint‑discriminatory way by singling out efforts to change LGBTQ identity while permitting counseling that affirms it nytimes +1. “The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,” he wrote, directing lower courts to apply strict scrutiny, the toughest constitutional test, to the law nytimes +1.

The Court reversed a lower‑court ruling that had upheld the ban and sent the case back, rather than invalidating every similar statute outright nbcnews +1. Still, the decision signals steep legal trouble for state and local ordinances that frame conversion‑therapy bans as limits on what licensed therapists may say in sessions with minors. In a concurrence, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, agreed Colorado’s approach suppressed one side of a debate, but left open whether a more neutral, conduct‑focused regulation could survive cbsnews +1.

Clash Between Medical Consensus and Judicial Skepticism

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the lone dissenter, warned that the ruling “could be catastrophic” for public‑health regulation by elevating speech rights of licensed professionals over states’ authority to curb harmful practices nbcnews +1. Major medical groups, including the American Psychological Association and American Medical Association, have for years condemned conversion therapy as discredited and associated with higher risks of depression and suicide among LGBTQ youth cbsnews +1. The Trevor Project says LGBTQ young people subjected to conversion efforts are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide in the past year usatoday.

Advocacy groups split sharply. The Human Rights Campaign called the decision “shocking” and said it “undermines protections that keep kids and families safe from these abusive practices” cpr. The Trevor Project labeled the ruling “a tragic step backward” that “will put young lives at risk” usatoday. By contrast, Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Chiles, celebrated “a significant win for free speech, common sense, and families desperate to help their children,” arguing counselors “shouldn’t be limited to promoting state‑approved goals like gender transition” cnn +1.

The Bigger Picture

The ruling continued the Court’s recent trend of siding with religious‑liberty and free‑speech claims in culture‑war disputes, while leaving states groping for new ways to regulate controversial treatments that rely heavily on counseling cbsnews. As lower courts apply strict scrutiny to conversion‑therapy bans from California to the East Coast, legislators may attempt to rewrite statutes to focus on coercive methods or non‑speech conduct, or risk seeing protections for LGBTQ minors dismantled. The outcome will test how far the First Amendment reaches into the therapy room—and how much room states retain to act on medical consensus when it collides with claims of free speech and religious belief. nytimes +2