{"id":142,"date":"2026-05-20T18:09:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=142"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:09:27","slug":"on-trans-day-of-visibility-supreme-court-sides-with-conversion-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=142","title":{"rendered":"On Trans Day of Visibility, Supreme Court Sides With Conversion Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an 8-1 <\/span>decision on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled against a Colorado law forbidding licensed therapists from trying to change a child\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity\u2014a practice known as conversion therapy that the medical profession has long since and .<\/p>

Read more USDA Plan to Jack Up Line Speeds at Meatpacking Plants Seems Like a Terrible Idea<\/a><\/p>\n

Decades of research show not only that conversion therapy doesn\u2019t work, it puts individuals at higher risk of depression and suicidality. In response to those findings, and a rising tide of acceptance for LGBTQ people since 2012, 23 states have forbidden licensed mental health practitioners from attempting conversion therapy on minors. The decision in the case, known as Chiles v. Salazar<\/em>, now threatens to overturn those laws nationwide.<\/p>\n

The case was brought by a Christian counselor named Kaley Chiles, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom\u2014the religious-right legal group behind many of the Supreme Court\u2019s recent anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion rulings. Chiles argued that because she practices talk therapy, not the painful aversion therapy widely used in the past, the Colorado law censors her speech and violates the First Amendment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor agreed, joining the court\u2019s conservatives in a authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch. \u201cColorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety,\u201d Gorsuch wrote.\u00a0 \u201cCertainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs applied to Ms. Chiles, the State seeks neither to regulate her speech incident to any conduct, nor does it seek to compel disclosure of factual and uncontroversial information,\u201d Gorsuch wrote. \u201cInstead, it seeks to silence a viewpoint she wishes to express.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a , Justice Kagan wrote that Colorado\u2019s law could have potentially survived if it regulated the content of a therapist\u2019s speech, but did not draw lines based on the therapist\u2019s viewpoint on matters of sex and gender.<\/p>\n

\u201cA law drawing a line based on the \u2018ideology\u2019 of the speaker\u2014disadvantaging one view and advantaging another\u2014skews the marketplace of ideas our society depends on to discover truth,\u201d Kagan wrote. The Colorado law, she added, \u201cprevents a therapist from saying she can help a minor change his same-sex orientation, but permits her to say that such a goal is impossible and so she will help him accept his gay identity.\u201d A law banning therapists from affirming trans kids\u2019 gender identity, she added, would also run afoul of the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the sole dissenting judge, that Chiles \u201cdoes not dispute that conversion therapy can be harmful to minors in certain circumstances\u201d nor \u201cdoes she contest that Colorado has a significant interest in protecting minors from harm.\u201d\u00a0But, Jackson continued, \u201cChiles complains nevertheless\u201d because \u201cthe particular form of conversion therapy she wants to offer clients utilizes only speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson added that the Colorado law as written did not prohibit Chiles from sharing any views on sexuality, gender identity, or conversion therapy outside of individual talk therapy sessions\u2014like in discussions with patients and their families. The \u201caim of the statute is not suppressing speech,\u201d she wrote in her dissent. \u201cTalk therapy is a medical treatment. So, why wouldn\u2019t such speech based medical treatments be subject to reasonable state regulation like any other kind of medical care?\u201d<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve reported before, the science on conversion therapy has been considered settled for over a decade:<\/p>

Read more \u201cRush Hour 4\u201d and More Katie Miller: Welcome to the Mediautocracy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The science on conversion therapy is unambiguous: it\u2019s both ineffective and dangerous. All the way back in 2009, an American Psychological Association task force issued a documenting the lack of evidence behind sexual orientation \u201cchange efforts,\u201d as scientists refer to them. Since then, APA has only its against both anti-gay and anti-trans conversion efforts. In October 2015, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration published a report concluding that sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts were \u201ccoercive, can be harmful, and should not be part of behavioral health treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nonetheless, conversion therapists have continued to practice on the fringes of the profession, typically working with conservative religious clients. In recent years they\u2019ve turned their attention on transgender youth, capitalizing on politicized controversy over medical treatments for trans kids, a Mother Jones<\/em> investigation found in 2024. And they\u2019ve embraced so-called \u201cgender exploratory therapy\u201d\u2014a treatment posed an alternative to gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors in a Health and Human Services report last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The justices\u2019 decision on Tuesday fell on Transgender Day of Visibility, created by Rachel Crandall-Crocker over 15 years ago. It\u2019s a day to celebrate transgender people and draw attention to the ongoing challenges the community faces. Being a visible, civically active trans person in the United States is becoming increasingly more volatile as Republican legislators\u2014local to federal\u2014seek to codify discrimination against trans and gender nonconforming people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2025, according to the independent research organization Trans Legislation Tracker, 1,022 bills that would negatively impact the transgender and gender nonconforming community were considered; 126 passed. In 2026, so far, 747 such bills are under consideration\u2014a number that is expected to grow. These laws target people\u2019s ability to seek out gender affirming healthcare, use the bathroom in public and private buildings, dictate what their personal identification says, serve in the military, and celebrate Pride Month, among other things.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This push is buoyed by President Donald Trump and his administration, who supported the therapist\u2019s position in Tuesday\u2019s Supreme Court case. On day one of his second term, Trump signed an executive order declaring that it would be \u201cthe policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,\u201d requiring agencies to base decisions on an outdated and scientifically inaccurate gender binary and providing a runway for anti-trans attacks across the nation.<\/p>\n

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, who helped lead the effort to pass state laws banning conversion therapy, said in a statement on Tuesday that legal avenues remain to fight back against conversion therapy. \u201cSurvivors can still bring malpractice and consumer fraud claims,\u201d he said. \u201cLicensing boards can still discipline providers who engage in unethical or harmful conduct\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThough today\u2019s ruling is not the outcome we sought, our commitment remains unwavering\u2014as does that of the families, survivors, and advocates who have stood beside us for thirty years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit for queer young people, is one of the groups that an amicus brief in Chiles v. Salazar<\/em> in support of upholding nationwide statutes that ward against conversion therapy. Its CEO, Jaymes Black, called Tuesday\u2019s ruling \u201ca tragic step backward for our country that will put young lives at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court\u2019s decision today is painful,\u201d Black said in a statement, adding, \u201cbut our community has dealt with difficult outcomes time and time again throughout our history. And we will deal with this, too.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Tradwife Horror Story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 8-1 ruling threatens to overturn bans on the discredited practice in 23 states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Trans Day of Visibility, Supreme Court Sides With Conversion Therapy - Moving and Mortgage Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Trans Day of Visibility, Supreme Court Sides With Conversion Therapy - Moving and Mortgage Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 8-1 ruling threatens to overturn bans on the discredited practice in 23 states.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving and Mortgage Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T18:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6eedde69895647d6ded058a88f2648aa.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b7c79bcfd888d98f34c5413df7e81a2\"},\"headline\":\"On Trans Day of Visibility, Supreme Court Sides With Conversion Therapy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T18:09:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142\"},\"wordCount\":1189,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6eedde69895647d6ded058a88f2648aa.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Gender\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=142\",\"name\":\"On Trans Day of Visibility, Supreme Court Sides With Conversion Therapy - 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