US Supreme Court strikes down state law banning ‘conversion therapies’ for minors

LGBT Flag – LGBTQIA+ Sophie Emeny/Unsplash The United States Supreme Court ruled this Tuesday (31) that a law in the state of Colorado that prohibits so-called “conversion therapies” for LGBTQIA+ minors violates freedom of expression. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp These therapies aim to modify the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQIA+ people, with the aim of “reconverting” them into heterosexuals. By 8 votes to 1, the Court ruled in favor of Christian psychological counselor Kaley Chiles, who challenged the law because she considered it limited the expression of her opinions. Colorado has banned conversion therapies for minors since 2019. Similar measures exist in around 20 American states. According to the decision, the law not only restricted professional interventions, but also limited the expression of contrary opinions — a point considered unconstitutional by the judges. See the videos that are trending on g1 Among the nine judges, the six conservatives and two of the three progressives voted in favor of the Christian psychologist. Chiles argued that the rule violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. “Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy not only bans physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors opinion speech,” conservative judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in the ruling, on behalf of the court’s majority. The judge also stated that, in the way it was applied, the law “regulated the speech” of the psychologist and discriminated against positions based on point of view. “But the First Amendment constitutes a shield against any attempt to impose an orthodoxy of thought or speech on this country. It expresses, on the contrary, the conviction that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely,” concluded Gorsuch. With the understanding, the Supreme Court ordered lower courts to review previous decisions contrary to Chiles. Pandora’s Box The only dissent was presented by progressive judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She said the ruling could “open a Pandora’s box” by limiting states’ ability to regulate medical practices considered potentially harmful to health. The psychologist’s lawyer, James Campbell, from the conservative organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), called the result “a significant victory for freedom of expression”. Upon returning to power in 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the federal government would recognize only two sexes defined at birth — male and female — and signed a decree that ended public funding for transition treatments for minors. In June, the Supreme Court had already authorized the state of Tennessee to prohibit transgender minors from accessing transition treatments. Conversion therapies are banned, in whole or in part, in several countries. Medical organizations such as the American Psychological Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists support the ban. The UN defends the global ban on these practices, which it classifies as discriminatory and violating people’s physical integrity. VIDEOS: most watched on g1

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