The Supreme Court agreed to take up a First Amendment case over Colorado's right to outlaw so-called conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth, The Denver Post reported. Monday's decision means the courts will hear arguments over whether Christian counselors can guide young patients away from the lifestyle.
Colorado is one of several states that have barred licensed counselors in the state from offering anything but affirmation in their lifestyle choices. A lower court upheld the ban, but the high court will get its say during the new term beginning in October.
The plaintiff, Kaley Chiles, is represented by the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. Her attorneys argue that the care Chiles wishes to offer won't "seek to ‘cure’ clients of same-sex attractions or to ‘change’ clients’ sexual orientation."
The state's attorneys counter that Colorado has the right to prohibit options that counter affirmative care "based on overwhelming evidence that efforts to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity are unsafe and ineffective." It's unknown how the Supreme Court will decide.
According to Fox News, the high court declined to hear the case in a similar challenge to a Washington state law two years ago. Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas dissented from the decision and said they would have been eager to review the law.
The newest case, Chiles v. Salazar, offers that chance. "A practicing Christian, Chiles believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God’s design, including their biological sex," the writ of certiorari said, making this case both a freedom of speech and religion case.
"Many of her clients seek her counsel precisely because they believe that their faith and their relationship with God establishes the foundation upon which to understand their identity and desires. But Colorado bans these consensual conversations based on the viewpoints they express," the Supreme Court's explanation for accepting the case went on.
The case hinges on "whether a law that censors certain conversations between counselors and their clients based on the viewpoints expressed regulates conduct or violates the Free Speech Clause," the writ said. Sarah Parshall Perry, a legal scholar for the Heritage Foundation, noted that this case will serve as a "constitutional challenge based on viewpoint discrimination," she said.
"The state of Colorado has averred that the legislature has determined that the standard of care for these individuals should not be anything other than affirmation of their desires for homosexual orientation or a divergent gender identity, and this herein really lies the rub...She said, essentially, in layman's terms, on the one side, you're allowing conversations to do nothing but affirm," Perry said of Chiles.
Although the facts of this case appear to be a slam dunk in favor of Chiles, the state vehemently disagrees with her assertions. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office supported the 2019 Minor Conversion Therapy Law in an amicus brief filed with the court.
That law bans "conversion therapy" through a broad definition. "Conversion therapy" encompasses any practitioner's treatment that "attempts or purports to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex."
The legislation excluded counseling that helps one settle into gender identity or sexual orientation in a positive way. It also allows for counseling for those seeking to change their gender as long as it doesn't stop them from the drugs or mutilation.
"In Colorado, we are committed to protecting professional standards of care so that no one suffers unscientific and harmful so-called gay conversion therapy. Colorado’s judgment on this is the humane, smart, and appropriate policy and we’re committed to defending it," a statement from Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser claimed.
Colorado and other states like it are trampling on the rights of counselors and their patients. Young people should be free to seek the care they feel necessary for their predicament, including overcoming their disordered sexual desires or identity issues.
