Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the state’s law banning counselors from practicing “dangerous” conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ kids.
Weiser’s office filed an 83-page brief Tuesday that argues conversion therapy — a medically discredited practice in which medical professionals try to change a patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity — is substandard medical care for minors that can be prohibited by states.
“No amount of talk, pressure or shaming can make a gay person not gay, or a transgender person not transgender. Licensed therapists shouldn’t be able to abuse their position of trust to push an agenda that causes long-lasting harm to kids and families,” Weiser said during a news conference. “The Supreme Court should adhere to its long line of precedents and affirm the states’ power to regulate health care and protect kids and families from substandard practices.”
In March, the Supreme Court agreed to take up a Colorado case, Chiles v. Salazar, to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for children. The court scheduled oral arguments for Oct. 7.
Colorado Springs counselor Kaley Chiles challenged the state’s ban, alleging it violated her First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion. She is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been involved in high-profile social issues such as a 2018 decision in which Supreme Court justices ruled California could not force state-licensed anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide abortion information.
“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,” Kristen Waggoner, CEO and general counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said after the high court agreed to hear the case.
The conservative-led U.S. Supreme Court took up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Colorado is one of 25 states with laws banning conversion therapy on minors.
“Regardless of how this practice is performed, it does not work and causes long-lasting harms that include depression, self-hatred, loss of faith and suicide,” Weiser said.
Weiser noted that Colorado law does not prevent health care professionals from sharing information, content or viewpoints with patients, and that therapists can tell patients about conversion therapy and the religious ministers who can engage in those practices. The law also doesn’t mandate counselors affirm any orientation or identity, Weiser said.
“The only thing that the law prohibits therapists from doing is violating the standard of care by performing a treatment that seeks to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” Weiser said.
Colorado has not taken disciplinary action against Chiles or any licensed professional for engaging in conversion therapy since the Colorado law barring the practice was enacted in 2019, Weiser said. A federal district court and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have upheld Colorado’s law.
The state is asking the Supreme Court to affirm the judgment of the lower courts, Weiser said.
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