The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Chiles v. Salazar, a case challenging state bans against so-called conversion therapy, the widely discredited practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The conservative-leaning court’s decision could possibly overturn bans and restrictions on conversion therapy for minors currently in place in 28 states.
The case, filed by the anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), involves Kaley Chiles — a Christian licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, Colorado — who says that the state’s ban prohibits her from advising clients with unwanted “same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion” who “prioritize their faith above their feelings,” The Hill reported.
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Chiles challenged the law in 2022 as a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld Colorado’s ban, saying that it regulated professional conduct rather than speech. The ADF appealed the decision to the nation’s highest court.
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The law firm claims that conversion therapy bans allow counselors to “steer” young people towards gender identities that differ from the sex they were assigned at birth while punishing counselors for “conversations that aim to help [young patients] return to comfort with their sex when they desire that.” However, this claim mischaracterizes the bans.
In reality, the bans forbid counselors from purporting to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The bans allow counselors to address individuals’ discomfort with their LGBTQ+ identities, and many counselors will encourage people to safely explore their sexuality or gender to see if certain identities feel right for them or not. Counselors are not required to “steer” patients into accepting an LGBTQ+ identity.
In a statement about the court’s decision to hear the case, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said, “The Supreme Court’s decision to take up this case isn’t just about so-called ‘conversion therapy’ – it’s about whether extremists can use our courts to push their dangerous agenda, in an effort to erase LGBTQ+ people and gut protections that keep our kids safe. There’s no debate: so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a dangerous practice, not therapy, and it has no place in our communities. These bans exist to protect LGBTQ+ children from harm—period.”
“Attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are the entry point to attacks on all of our rights. The same people trying to legalize abuse under the guise of ‘therapy’ are the ones banning books, ripping away reproductive rights, and undermining our democracy. The Supreme Court must uphold the 10th Circuit decision finding that these laws are constitutional,” Robinson added.
The ADF has been behind numerous recent Supreme Court victories, including the one overturning abortion rights nationwide, one allowing religiously-owned companies to refuse to cover contraceptives in employee health plans, one requiring governments to provide taxpayer funds to anti-LGBTQ+ religious organizations, one striking down “buffer zones” designed to stop anti-abortion activists from harassing clients at abortion clinics, and a 2023 case that ruled that Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws cannot force Christian web designers to provide websites promoting same-sex marriages
Conversion therapy is a harmful fraud
Every major medical, psychiatric, psychological, and professional mental health organization opposes the use of conversion therapy as ineffective, unnecessary, and harmful. Despite this, numerous Republicans and Christian conservatives have fought to overturn city and statewide bans on the practice.
Some state legislative bans posit that the practice violates state medical licensing standards because the methods are ineffective and harm patients. Other states have said that practitioners who purport to change an individual’s LGBTQ+ identity are, in essence, using false advertising to market their services, which violates state regulatory business statutes.
Despite the bans currently in place, a December 2023 report from The Trevor Project estimated that over 1,300 conversion therapists continue to operate across the nation, often discreetly advertising their services in closed online forums, private social media groups, and message boards or via word-of-mouth referrals.
The methods of so-called conversion therapists include encouraging queer people to redirect their sexual energy into exercise; “covert aversion” (a fancy name for imagining possible negative consequences of being queer); Bible study; directing same-sex sexual desire onto opposite-sex partners; inflicting pain and humiliation anytime LGBTQ+ feelings arise; and forcing people to act out stereotypical gender roles in behavior and personal appearance.
A 2013 survey showed that 84% of former patients who tried ex-gay therapy said it inflicted lasting shame and emotional harm. Additionally, a March 2022 peer-reviewed study from The Trevor Project showed that 13% of LGBTQ+ youth nationwide had reported being subjected to conversion therapy. Of those, 83% were subjected to it before reaching the age of 18.
The 2022 study showed that young people who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide afterward. Numerous conversion therapy advocates have later come out as still gay and apologized for the harm that conversion therapy causes.
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.
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