Supreme Court weighs challenge to bans on conversion therapy aimed at LGBTQ kids

The Supreme Court considers a free speech challenge to a Colorado law that bans conversion therapy aimed at young LGBTQ people.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday considers a free speech challenge to a Colorado law that bans conversion therapy aimed at young people questioning their sexual orientations or gender identities in a case likely to have national implications.

The ruling could affect more than 20 states that have similar bans and raise new questions about other long-standing state health care regulations.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that often backs conservative free speech claims, will hear oral argument in a case brought by Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist, who says the 2019 law violates her free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment.

Conversion therapy, favored by some religious conservatives, seeks to encourage gay or lesbian minors to identify as heterosexual and transgender children to identify as the gender identities assigned to them at birth. Colorado bans the practice for licensed therapists, not for religious entities or family members.

At issue is whether such bans regulate conduct in the same way as regulations applying to health care providers, as the state argues, or speech, as Chiles contends. Chiles says she does only talk therapy.