The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a Colorado law that bans mental health professionals from using talk therapy to encourage minors to live in accordance with their biological sex.
The 8-1 ruling sided with Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist who sued Colorado in 2022 over a law prohibiting “any practice or treatment” that attempts to alter a minor’s “gender expressions” or “eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”
Chiles argued the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s free speech and free exercise clauses and kept her from helping with patients who wished to live “consistent with their faith” while “seeking to reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions.”
Those who violated the law faced fines of up to $5,000 for each violation and possible revocation of licensing or suspension.
The high court ruled that the 2019 law violates free speech in the context of talk therapy and constitutes viewpoint discrimination.
“But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,” the court’s opinion stated. “It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.”
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys and co-counsel Barry Arrington and Shaun Pearman defended Chiles in her suit. In September 2024, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state law, and in November 2024, Chiles petitioned the Supreme Court to hear her case.
Jim Campbell, ADF’s chief legal counsel who argued the case in court in October, called the Supreme Court decision a “significant win.”
“Kids deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made,” he said. “The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today is a significant win for free speech, common sense, and families desperate to help their children. States cannot silence voluntary conversations that help young people seeking to grow comfortable with their bodies.”
Chiles says the ruling is “a victory for counselors” and “more importantly, kids and families everywhere.”
“When my young clients come to me for counsel, they often want to discuss issues of gender and sexuality. I look forward to being able to help them when they choose the goal of growing comfortable with their bodies,” Chiles said in an ADF press release. “Counselors walking alongside these young people shouldn’t be limited to promoting state-approved goals like gender transition, which often leads to harmful drugs and surgeries.”
The ruling has implications for counselors in more than 20 other states and over 100 localities across the country that have similar laws barring so-called “conversion therapy.”
