Supreme Court Could Pave Way for Return of Conversion Therapy
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Colorado's conversion therapy ban and could strike down similar bans across the nation.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a challenge to a Colorado law prohibiting mental health therapists from subjecting LGBTQ youth to conversion therapy.
The court will hear the case during its next term, which begins in October and runs through June 2026.
Conversion therapy is a practice intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity to align with heterosexual or cisgender norms. Most mainstream medical organizations have largely discredited it as ineffective and potentially even harmful.
Yet, many social conservatives insist that people who hold religious beliefs opposing homosexuality should be allowed to enroll their children, or, in the case of adults, themselves, in the practice.
Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, challenged that state’s conversion therapy ban in 2022, claiming it interfered with her ability to treat individuals with “same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion” who “prioritize their faith above their feelings,” reports The Hill.
Chiles, who only uses “talk therapy” in her practice — as opposed to methods like aversion therapy, forced vomiting, or electroshock — has argued that she wants to work with adults and minors who are seeking out Christian counseling.
She says that she assists clients in achieving their “stated desires and objectives,” which can include eliminating “unwanted sexual attractions” or learning to “grow in the experience of harmony with one’s physical body.”
Chiles, who is represented by the anti-LGBTQ organization Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that Colorado’s ban on youth conversion therapy has forced her to stop offering therapy that would allow her clients to question and examine their sexual orientation or gender identity, rather than accept it outright.
She claims that the ban forces counselors to effectively “steer” youth towards identifying as LGBTQ, even if doing so creates conflicts with their religious beliefs.
She also argues that the law violates not only her own religious beliefs that homosexuality is sinful and that sex is binary and fixed from birth, but the religious beliefs and free speech rights of her clients.
A federal judge rejected Chiles’ lawsuit in 2022, finding that the state’s conversion therapy ban doesn’t unlawfully hinder what she can say to her minor clients.
A panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision the following year, ruling that the law regulates professional conduct, not speech.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Chiles’ lawsuit comes after the high court has rejected previous attempts to overturn restrictions on conversion therapy in other states. In December 2023, the high court refused to hear a challenge to Washington State’s conversion therapy ban. It also previously rejected attempts, in 2017 and 2015, to overturn identical bans in California and New Jersey, respectively.
By taking up the case, the Supreme Court, which is controlled by a 6-3 margin by conservatives, could potentially issue a ruling that overturns all statewide bans or regulatory restrictions on conversion therapy that exist in 28 states — including prohibitions on reimbursing therapists who engage in the practice using taxpayer dollars.
Critics of conversion therapy argue that those subjected to conversion therapy — whether as youth or as adults — experience a host of negative consequences, including feelings of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.
A 2013 survey by a group for survivors of conversion therapy found that 84% of those who underwent conversion therapy said their experience continues to haunt them, inflicting various types of harm, from triggering “nervous breakdowns” to lasting shame, depression, feelings of self-loathing, and suicidal thoughts or feelings.
A 2020 study by the Williams Institute found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults subjected to conversion therapy were 92% more likely to have lifetime suicidal ideation than their peers and were 75% more likely to plan a suicide attempt.
Similarly, a 2022 peer-reviewed study by The Trevor Project found that those subjected to the practice were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who were not.
Beyond that, critics note, conversion therapists continue to operate under the radar even in states with bans, proving that the mere existence of a restriction on conversion therapy doesn’t end the practice.
An estimated 1,300 conversion therapists continue to operate across the United States, according to a 2023 Trevor Project analysis.
LGBTQ groups, unsurprisingly, blasted what they see as an attempt by the conservative majority to overturn yet another protection for LGBTQ people and allow further erasure of the LGBTQ community.
“Conversion therapy is not actual therapy,” Jaymes Black, the CEO of the Trevor Project, said in a statement. “It is a harmful, debunked practice that has been shown to more than double an LGBTQ+ young person’s odds of attempting suicide in the past year….
“Ending conversion therapy is not about partisan politics, and it is not about ‘free speech.’ Ending conversion therapy is about protecting young people from clear and proven psychological harm, and saving young lives.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.