U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge to ‘conversion therapy’ ban for minors

An LGBT supporter holds a "Trans Rights Are Human Rights" sign outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019. Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a challenge by a Christian therapist to a Colorado law that bans “conversion therapy” for minors who are questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation.

The case was brought by Kaley Chiles, a licenced mental health counsellor who argues that the prohibition from holding such conversations with minors is a violation of her First Amendment free speech rights.

Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law, passed in 2019, prohibits licenced mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of their patients under 18 years old.

Chiles is represented in the case before the conservative-dominated Supreme Court by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal advocacy group.

In her petition, Chiles’s lawyers said she “believes that people flourish when they live consistently with God’s design, including their biological sex.”

“Amidst a nationwide mental-health crisis, many minors struggling with gender dysphoria are seeking the counselling that Kaley Chiles would like to provide,” they said.

“They want help aligning their mind and body rather than chasing experimental medical interventions and risking permanent harm.

“Yet it is this desperately needed counselling -- encouraging words between a licenced counsellor and a consenting minor client -- that Colorado forbids,” they said.

Conversion therapy is banned in more than 20 U.S. states and much of Europe, with both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association opposed to its use.

In its brief with the Supreme Court, Colorado said there is “mounting evidence that conversion therapy is associated with increased depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts.”

Two lower courts ruled in favour of Colorado, and Chiles brought her case before the nation’s top court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority.

U.S. President Donald Trump, after taking office, said the government would henceforth only recognize two genders -- male and female -- and signed an executive order restricting gender transition medical procedures for people under the age of 19.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold a Tennessee state law banning hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery for minors.

The Supreme Court will also hear a challenge this term to state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that ban transgender girls from taking part in girls’ sports -- another issue at the heart of the American culture wars.