Supreme Court Weakens Law Protecting LGBTQ+ Youth From Conversion Therapy

Today, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado therapist in her challenge to a state law preventing licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors. The Court ruled that, as applied to talk therapy, Colorado’s conversion therapy law regulates speech based on viewpoint and the lower courts should have applied a more rigorous standard of review.   

Conversion therapy refers to dangerous, unscientific practices that try to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Every major US medical association confirms conversion therapy is both harmful and ineffective. Studies show that conversion therapy increases the risk of suicidality, depression, and anxiety.   

Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), issued the following statement: 

Today’s Supreme Court ruling limited Colorado’s statute that pre-emptively shielded minors from conversion therapy, but it leaves open avenues for states to protect families from harmful, unscrupulous, and misleading practices that divide parents from their children and put LGBTQ+ youth at risk. The stories of conversion therapy survivors are filled with heartbreaking examples of shattered family connections and separation from faith communities that once sustained them. The evidence is clear that conversion practices lead to increased anxiety, depression, and suicidality. This is a dangerous practice that has been condemned by every major medical association in the country. Today’s decision does not change the science, and it does not change the fact that conversion therapists who harm patients will still face legal consequences, and that family advocates, mental health practitioners, and all of us who care about the wellbeing of youth will continue working to shield LGBTQ+ young people and their families from this dangerous practice.

GLAD Law submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in Chiles v. Salazar on behalf of eight conversion therapy survivors whose stories demonstrate how the practice fractures families and isolates young people from their religious communities. The survivors’ stories shed light on how conversion therapy causes lasting trauma not just to individuals but to families and entire communities.

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If you have questions about your legal rights, contact GLAD Law Answers.  

Learn more about Chiles v. Salazar.