The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Colorado law banning the practice of “conversion therapy” on Tuesday.
In 2019, Colorado adopted a law that banned “any practice or treatment” that tries to change a minor’s “gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.” Kaley Chiles, an evangelical Christian therapist, sued the state over the law in 2022 arguing it impeded her ability to treat youth who desired to remain “consistent with their faith” and sought “to reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions.” In a 8-1 ruling, the court sided with Chiles.
The majority found that banning conversion therapy, insofar as it relates to talk therapy, was an “egregious assault” on the First Amendment and free speech.
“Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. “But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. She wrote that the majority’s ruling “opens a dangerous can of worms” that “threatens to impair states’ ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect.”
Cases relating to minors and gender identity have been a hot topic at the Supreme Court over the last year. In June 2025, the court upheld a Tennessee law banning certain gender-transition care for young people and similar laws across more than 20 states. The court will soon decide cases challenging Idaho and West Virginia laws banning transgender girls from women’s sports.
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