The United States Supreme Court is set to review a legal challenge to Colorado’s legislation that bans licensed counselors from providing sexual orientation change efforts therapy for those seeking assistance.
On Monday, the high court agreed without delivering comments to hear the case of Kaley Chiles v. Patty Salazar et al., which disputes the validity of Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law.
Kaley Chiles is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a nonprofit organization focused on religious freedom, which welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to proceed with oral arguments. In a statement released on the same day, ADF CEO Kristen Waggoner expressed the organization's stance, stating, “State officials have ‘no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors.”
The Minor Conversion Therapy Law was enacted in Colorado in 2019 to prohibit what is commonly referred to by critics as "gay conversion therapy" for individuals under 18. This legislation was passed following several unsuccessful attempts to introduce similar bills in preceding years.
Daniel Ramos, who serves as the executive director of One Colorado, a group advocating for LGBT rights, commented during the law’s passage that it represented a “significant step in protecting our LGBTQ youth.”
“No young person should ever be shamed by a mental health professional into thinking that who they are is wrong. Mental health care should be ethical and affirming for all people — including LGBTQ young people,” stated Ramos.
In September 2022, Kaley Chiles initiated a legal challenge against Colorado's law prohibiting sexual orientation change efforts therapy, arguing that it infringes upon the Free Speech Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A three-judge panel from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against Chiles, reaffirming an earlier district ruling that supported Colorado’s therapy ban.
Circuit Judge Veronica Rossman, appointed by President Biden, delivered the majority opinion, stating that “Chiles had not met her burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits of her First Amendment free speech and free exercise claims.”
She further explained, “By regulating which treatments Ms. Chiles may perform in her role as a licensed professional counselor, Colorado is not restricting Ms. Chiles' freedom of expression. In other words, Ms. Chiles's First Amendment right to freedom of speech is implicated under the MCTL, but it is not abridged.”
In contrast, Circuit Judge Harris Hartz, appointed by President George W. Bush, dissented, asserting that the majority failed to justify why "talk therapy is to be afforded lesser First Amendment protection than speech in general.”
He questioned, “Is the majority stating that professional speech should be treated differently under the First Amendment from identical speech by a nonprofessional? That would fly in the face of what the Supreme Court has recently told us,” wrote Hartz.
In November, the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on behalf of Chiles, calling on the Supreme Court “to clarify that the First Amendment applies in the counseling room.”
