Overview
- The Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado cannot use its ban on conversion therapy for minors to stop a licensed counselor’s talk therapy.
- Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the law, as applied to Kaley Chiles, discriminated by viewpoint because it allowed counseling that affirms a minor’s identity but barred counseling that aims to change or redirect it.
- Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor concurred in the result, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and warned the ruling could hamper states’ regulation of medical care.
- Legal analysts say roughly 23 states and Washington, D.C., with similar bans now face constitutional risk and should expect new court challenges.
- Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear criticized the ruling, calling conversion therapy “torture” and invoking his faith in his response.