US top court rules against state ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ+ youth
In an 8-1 decision, the court ruled the law violates free speech by censoring viewpoint.
The US Supreme Court has ruled against a Colorado law that banned licensed professionals from providing 'conversion therapy' to minors, a practice aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. In an 8-1 decision, the court sided with Christian counselor Kaley Chiles, who argued the ban violated her First Amendment right to free speech. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated the law "censors speech based on viewpoint" and that the First Amendment "stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech." The ruling sends the case back to a lower court to determine if the law can survive the demanding 'strict scrutiny' legal standard, which few regulations pass.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the sole dissent, arguing that the decision "opens a dangerous can of worms" and "threatens to impair states' ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect." She contended that states must be free to regulate healthcare practices, even if doing so incidentally restricts speech. The ruling represents a significant victory for religious liberty claims and continues a trend of the court taking a skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights protections. Colorado is one of about two dozen states with similar bans on the practice, which major medical associations have widely discredited as harmful.
- The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors.
- Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the law violates the First Amendment by censoring 'speech based on viewpoint.'
- The case was remanded to a lower court to apply the strict scrutiny standard, which few laws survive.
Why It Matters
The decision weakens state power to regulate healthcare practices and strengthens First Amendment claims over professional conduct rules.