Supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ+ kids

he Supreme Court in Washington, Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/J.

Scott Applewhite, File) 2026-03-31T14:08:08Z WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice.

An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment.

The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.” Gorsuch’s opinion drew support from liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

AP AUDIO: Supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ+ kids The Supreme Court has ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado.

AP correspondent Marcela Sanchez has more.

A state could similarly not ban talk therapy designed to affirm a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Kagan wrote. “Once again, because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,” she wrote.

In a solo dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that states should be free to regulate health care, even if that means incidental restrictions on speech.

The decision, Jackson wrote, “opens a dangerous can of worms” that “threatens to impair states’ ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect.” The decision is the latest in a line of recent cases in which the justices have backed claims of religious discrimination while taking a skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.

Counselor Kaley Chiles, with support from President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, said the law wrongly bars her from offering voluntary, faith-based therapy for kids.

Chiles contends her approach is different from “conversion therapy” practices from decades ago, like shock therapy.

Her attorneys argued that the ban makes it hard for parents to find therapists willing to discuss gender identity with kids unless the counseling affirms transition. “I look forward to being able to help them when they choose the goal of growing comfortable with their bodies,” Chiles said in a statem

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