Supreme Court overturns Colorado ban on conversion therapy

This story first appeared at cpr.org.

DENVER — The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a freedom of speech case challenging Colorado’s statewide ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth in a 8 to 1 decision with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.

The outcome of the case means a roll back on conversion therapy bans across the nation. 

Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law prohibits all mental health professionals in the state from attempting to change a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity during therapy sessions. It also imposes penalties for those violating the law, including a $5,000 fine and the potential loss of their license. 

The Supreme Court Justices said Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny.

“The fact that the State’s viewpoint regulation falls only on licensed health care professionals does not change the equation. The First Amendment protects the right of all to speak their minds,” states the ruling. 

The justices said the state law permits some speech but not others. The case stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm, on behalf of Colorado Springs counselor Kaley Chiles. It claimed that the state’s law, which passed in 2019, censors Chiles’ free speech by preventing her from counseling children who wish to affirm their biological gender identity and sexual orientation. 

In an earlier press conference about the case Chiles said she believes the Constitution protects her First Amendment right to speak freely with her clients.

“I'm facing a serious challenge,” Chiles said. “This law silences diverse perspectives and interferes with my ability to serve my clients with integrity. Children today are struggling with complex issues and they need space to explore their feelings and concerns. Unfortunately, Colorado's law pushes them toward harmful medical interventions like drugs and surgeries by prohibiting supportive conversations that could help them navigate their struggles in a healthier way.”  

The state argued that the law fell within its purview to regulate standards for licensed professionals. Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson issued a statement calling the decision reckless and conversion therapy pseudo science. 

“It is cruel and should never be offered under the guise of legitimate mental healthcare. To undermine protections that keep kids and families safe from these abusive practices is shocking — and our children deserve better,” said Robinson.

Dr. Luis Alvarez Hernandez, who researches the mental health impacts of conversion therapy and other clinical practices affecting LGBTQ+ patients, told CPR News that the overturning of the ban would put LGBTQ+ youth across the country at a higher risk for abuse. 

“We'll likely see an increase in these practices. Psychologically we could anticipate that more youth and children experience verbal humiliation, coercion, social isolation,” he said. “Physically, we know that in conversion therapy, people also experience things like electrocution, forced medication of hormones, hitting, slapping, people being confined to a room or a facility…even food deprivation. The most extreme cases, we have seen reports of conversion therapy through the forms of sexual abuse and rape.”

This isn’t the first time ADF has challenged Colorado’s LGBTQ protections in front of the Supreme Court. It successfully represented a web designer who refuses to make wedding websites for same sex couples and a Lakewood baker who won’t take cake commissions that violate his Christian beliefs. All told, ADF counts 16 wins at the Supreme Court since 2011, most notably, its leading role in overturning Roe v. Wade.    

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor elected in the country, has said conversion therapy that aims to change the sexual orientation of LGBTQ youth isn’t backed up by any evidence. When he signed Colorado’s bill into law Polis said, “many of these so-called therapies or treatments are counterproductive leading to lifelong issues with depression, even ultimately ending in suicide for some.”

“These are harmful practices that attempt to change a person’s innate traits,” Alvarez Hernandez said. “They’re not based on scientific evidence… and sometimes these practices can even make things worse.”

Major psychological governing bodies have concluded that the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender expression or identity is harmful. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders decades ago. More recently, a United Nations report concluded conversion therapy “can amount to torture” and called for it to be banned worldwide.