Supreme Court takes on conversion therapy: Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that will have far-reaching implications when a ruling is released in June. It deals with the Colorado law banning conversion therapy for gay and transgender minors, and weighing therapists' free speech rights (versus whether the statute places a "legal regulation on professional conduct," as The New York Times put it).
Colorado's existing statute prohibits "any practice or treatment" that attempts to change a minor's "gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex." Therapist Kaley Chiles "wishes to counsel religious teens dealing with their sexual orientation and gender dysphoria in ways she says are consistent with biblical teachings on identity," per The Washington Post. Chiles says she "does not want to convert gay and transgender teens, but wants to help those who wish to 'reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with one's physical body.'" Lawyers for Chiles have argued that the current law respects the rights of therapists who wish to offer so-called "gender-affirming" care, but not Christian therapists who wish to offer something that could be construed as the inverse. Colorado's solicitor general, on the other hand, says the state is regulating the quality of medical treatment provided to protect residents from harm.
