Published on March 31, 2026, at FOX31
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday backed a First Amendment challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children, but Colorado lawmakers and community leaders say the fight is still on.
The Supreme Court voted 8-1, with two liberal justices siding with the conservative majority, in siding with a Colorado Springs Christian counselor, saying Colorado’s 2019 law prohibiting mental healthcare provider efforts to change minors’ sexual orientations or gender expressions was an attempt to silence a certain viewpoint.
Justice Neil Gorsuch said the law, “censors speech based on viewpoint,” in his opinion for the ruling. The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”
Liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor supported Gorsuch’s opinion but called on states with laws like Colorado’s to rework them to be more tailored to pass constitutional tests.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser condemned the ruling, and both said Colorado lawmakers will still work to support LGTBQ+ children, and state lawmakers are still set to consider a bill this session that would give conversion therapy survivors civil causes of action.
“Colorado is for everyone, no matter who you are,” Polis said in a statement. “Conversion therapy doesn’t work, can seriously harm youth, and Coloradans should beware before turning over their hard-earned money to a scam. I am evaluating the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and working to figure out how to better protect LGBTQ youth and free speech in Colorado. We are fighting for everyone’s right to be who you are in our Colorado for all.”
Weiser in an X post said the Supreme Court “got it wrong” in saying conversion therapy is protected free speech. He called the ruling a setback and noted the many professional associations that have discredited the practice as harmful.
“For generations, states have set and enforced standards to ensure that licensed professionals provide safe and appropriate care,” Weiser said in a statement. “We strongly disagree with the court’s reasoning and are carefully reviewing the decision to assess its full impact on Colorado law and on our responsibility to protect consumers and patients.”
The American Psychological Association was among 28 U.S.-based medical and psychological professional associations officially calling for an end to the practice and had signed on in support of Colorado’s law in the Supreme Court Case.
Research backed by the APA showed a range of impacts to people who go through conversion therapy, including depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance misuse, a range of posttraumatic responses, loss of connection to community, damaged familial relationships, self-blame, guilt and shame.
In the meantime, lawmakers and Colorado organizations are still considering ways to support LGBTQ children.
One Colorado, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, said they were “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, and pointed supporters to a Colorado bill, HB26-1322, being considered that would open survivors of conversion therapy to sue healthcare professionals.
“While the Court has chosen to categorize this practice as protected speech, we know the truth: conversion therapy is an unsafe, unethical, and fundamentally flawed practice that has caused profound historical harm to the LGBTQIA+ community,” One Colorado said in a Facebook post. “Regardless of this ruling, the reality of the trauma inflicted on survivors remains unchanged.”
One Colorado said HB26-1322 “provides a pathway for accountability, allowing survivors to seek justice against those who administer this harmful practice.”
The organization noted that the Supreme Court ruled Colorado’s conversion therapy ban violated the First Amendment but left malpractice and other legal claims intact.
Democratic sponsors of the bill, Reps. Alex Valdez of Denver and Karen McCormick of Longmont, in a joint statement said the SCOTUS ruling will not stop them from pushing the bill forward.
“In Colorado, you belong just the way you are,” the representatives said. “Now more than ever, we must protect LGBTQ+ Coloradans from the harmful practice that is conversion therapy. We vow to keep moving forward to safeguard the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado.”
HB26-1322 passed the House Judiciary Committee last week and was set for the second reading on the House floor on Tuesday.
The counselor who sued over Colorado’s law, Kaley Chiles, with support from President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, said the law wrongly barred her from offering voluntary, faith-based therapy for kids.
“I look forward to being able to help them when they choose the goal of growing comfortable with their bodies,” Chiles said in a statement. “Counselors walking alongside these young people shouldn’t be limited to promoting state-approved goals like gender transition, which often leads to harmful drugs and surgeries.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
