Conversion Therapy Supreme Court Case

Is counseling free speech? That’s the question at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, in a dispute over Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy.” A 2019 law says counselors can’t try to change a minor client’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including “behaviors or gender expressions.” The statute explicitly permits, however, “assistance to a person undergoing gender transition.”

Kaley Chiles is a licensed counselor with a master’s degree in clinical mental health. She’s also a Christian who “believes clients can accept the bodies that God has given them and find peace.” She fears being punished if she discusses such things with minors experiencing gender dysphoria, according to her brief in Chiles v. Salazar. That’s a constitutional violation, she argues, because the First Amendment protects “private conversations between counselors and their clients.”