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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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More than 20 states and the District of Columbia have banned conversion therapy for minors.
The Context
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case, Chiles v. Salazar, challenging a Colorado law that restricts conversion therapy—the practice of trying to change a person's gender identity or sexual orientation through counseling.
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The case could decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children at a time when President Donald Trump's administration is targeting transgender people, including by ending federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
What To Know
Colorado is among 22 states with laws restricting licensed mental health practitioners from providing counseling to minors that attempts to change their gender identity or sexual orientation.
They follow recommendations by experts and health care providers that such counseling can be harmful and traumatizing for young people.
The Supreme Court case was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Kaley Chiles, a counselor in Colorado Springs. This conservative Christian legal organization has won several victories at the nation's highest court in recent years.
Chiles is challenging the constitutionality of the Colorado law, saying it violates her rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.
Her lawyers say that many of her clients come to her "because they share her Christian worldview and faith-based values" and that she has been forced to deny counseling to prospective clients because of the law.
According to court documents, she said clients with "same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion" who "prioritize their faith above their feelings are seeking to live a life consistent with their faith" and not being able to do so leads to "internal conflicts, depression, anxiety, addiction, eating disorders and so forth."
What People Are Saying
Alliance Defending Freedom President Kristen Waggoner said in a statement: "The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors, nor should a counselor be used as a tool to impose the government's biased views on her clients."
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement to Newsweek: "States have long regulated medical practices to protect patients from harmful professional conduct. Colorado's law protecting young people from unscientific and cruel gay conversion therapy practices is humane, smart and appropriate."
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court justices will review the case in the court's new term, which begins in October.
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