Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether States Can Ban Conversion Therapy for LBGTQ+ Children
WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in its latest LGBTQ+ rights case, weighing the constitutionality of bans passed by nearly half of U.S. states on the practice known as conversion therapy for children.
Justices are hearing a Christian counselor’s lawsuit challenging a Colorado law that bans therapies aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity. Kaley Chiles, with the support of President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, claims the law violates her freedom of speech by prohibiting her from providing voluntary, faith-based therapy to children.
Colorado, meanwhile, says the measure simply regulates licensed therapists by banning a practice that is scientifically discredited and linked to serious harm.
The arguments come months after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that states can ban transition-related health care for transgender youth, a setback for LGBTQ rights. The justices are also expected to hear a case this year regarding the sports participation of transgender players.
Colorado has not sanctioned anyone under the 2019 law, which exempts religious ministries. State prosecutors say this still allows any therapist to have in-depth, faith-based conversations with young patients about gender and sexuality.
“The only thing the law prohibits therapists from doing is performing treatment aimed at the predetermined outcome of changing a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, because such treatment is dangerous and ineffective,” Colorado state prosecutors wrote.
Therapy is not just talking, they said, but also health care that governments have a responsibility to regulate. Violation of the law results in potential fines of $5,000 and license suspension or revocation.
Linda Robertson is a Christian mother of four from Washington State. Her son Ryan underwent therapy that promised to change his sexual orientation after coming out at age 12. These techniques led him to blame himself when it didn’t work, leaving him ashamed and depressed. He died in 2009, after several suicide attempts and a drug overdose at the age of 20.
“What happened during conversion therapy devastated Ryan’s bond with me and my husband,” she said. “And it completely destroyed his confidence that he could ever be loved or accepted by God.”
Chiles says his approach is different from the type of conversion therapy once associated with practices like shock therapy decades ago. She said she believes “people thrive when they live according to God’s design, including their biological sex,” and she says evidence of the harm caused by her approach is lacking.
Chiles says Colorado is discriminatory because it allows counselors to confirm that minors come out as gay or identify as transgender, but prohibits counseling like his for young patients who want to change their behavior or feelings. “We’re not saying this advice should be mandatory, but if someone wants advice, they should be able to get it,” said one of his lawyers, Jonathan Scruggs.
The Trump administration has said there are First Amendment issues with Colorado’s law that should hold the law to higher legal standards that few measures adopt.
Chile is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization that has appeared frequently in court in recent years. The group also represented a Christian web designer who does not want to work with same-sex couples and successfully challenged a Colorado anti-discrimination law in 2023.
The group’s argument in the conversion therapy case also builds on another 2018 victory: A Supreme Court ruling ruled that California could not force state-licensed anti-abortion pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion. Chile should also be freed from this type of state regulation, the group argued.
Yet the Supreme Court has also held that regulations that only “incidentally” burden speech are permissible, and the state argues that striking down its anti-conversion therapy law would undermine the state’s ability to regulate discredited health care for all children.
The high court agreed to hear the case after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld the law. Another appeals court, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, overturned similar bans in Florida.
Legal wrangling continued elsewhere as well. In Wisconsin, the state’s highest court recently allowed the state to enforce its ban. Virginia officials, by contrast, agreed to scale back enforcement as part of a deal with a faith-based conservative group that sued.
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