{"id":31393,"date":"2026-04-02T09:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31393"},"modified":"2026-04-02T09:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:46:18","slug":"supreme-court-blocks-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/04\/supreme-court-blocks-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Blocks Colorado Conversion Therapy Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The US Supreme Court has struck down a Colorado so-called \u201cconversion therapy\u201d ban, opening the doors to similar bans nationwide being struck down as well. \u201cConversion therapy\u201d refers to a type of therapy used to help an individual change an unwanted sexual orientation or gender identity. Such therapies are typically provided by Christian counselors. Colorado banned such therapies in 2019 through its Minor Conversion Therapy Law, claiming such therapies were harmful to the mental well-being of LGBTQ+ youth. \u201cNo young person should ever be shamed by a mental health professional into thinking that who they are is wrong. Mental health care should be ethical and affirming for all people \u2014 including LGBTQ young people,\u201d Daniel Ramos, executive director of the LGBT group One Colorado, said<\/a> at the time of the law\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

Christian counselor Kaley Chiles sued Colorado, stating the law discriminated against her. She contended that her therapies were in no way meant to \u201cconvert\u201d clients but to assist them \u201cwith their stated desires and objectives in counseling, which sometimes includes clients seeking to reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with one\u2019s physical body.\u201d In an 8-1 to ruling, the Supreme Court justices ruled that the lower federal courts that upheld the state\u2019s ban should have applied a more stringent standard of review to determine if Chiles\u2019s First Amendment rights were being violated. This sends the law back to lower courts for further scrutiny, but Justice Gorsuch, who wrote the majority opinion, implied that the law would be found in violation of the First Amendment, stating it \u201ccensors speech based on viewpoint.\u201d \u201cColorado\u2019s law does not just regulate the content of Ms. Chiles\u2019s speech. It goes a step further, prescribing what views she may and may not express,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only Justice to dissent. \u201cChiles is not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed healthcare professional. Under our precedents, bedrock First Amendment principles have far less salience when the speakers are medical professionals and their treatment-related speech is being restricted incidentally to the State\u2019s regulation of the provision of medical care,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Liberals bemoaned the ruling, calling \u201cconversion therapy\u201d dangerous. \u201cThis Supreme Court decision puts our kids in danger,\u201d wrote Representative Ilhan Omar on X<\/a>. \u201c\u2018Conversion therapy\u2019 is abuse\u2014it’s an unsafe, discredited practice that inflicts lasting trauma on LGBTQ+ youth. We need to ban this reprehensible practice nationwide.\u201d Detransitioner Chloe Cole, however, celebrated the ruling. \u201c\u2019Conversion therapy\u2019 in its lawful definition includes talk therapy that doesn\u2019t affirm a trans identity,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cThis means that until this SCOTUS ruling, psychologists in blue states were forced to participate in the trans delusion Trans is a mental illness and now it can be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Supreme Court has struck down a Colorado so-called \u201cconversion therapy\u201d ban, opening the doors to similar bans nationwide being struck down as well. \u201cConversion therapy\u201d refers to a type of therapy used to help an individual change an unwanted sexual orientation or gender identity. Such therapies are typically provided by Christian counselors. Colorado…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":31396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court Blocks Colorado Conversion Therapy Ban<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Supreme Court strikes down Colorado \u201cconversion therapy\u201d ban, sending case back to lower courts and raising new First Amendment questions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/04\/supreme-court-blocks-colorado-conversion-therapy-ban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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