The U.S Supreme Court has ruled against states’ ability to ban licensed mental health providers from providing conversion therapy on the grounds that it violates free speech.
In a twist of fate, national LGBTQ+ advocates and law experts say the decision proves Texas can’t ban gender affirming care from the therapy room, but local mental health providers are pessimistic.
Last month, an 8-1 court sided with Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional Christian counselor in Colorado Springs, who argued her state’s ban on conversion therapy, a controversial treatment aimed at changing a LGBTQ+ minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, violated her right to free speech. The justices ruled the Colorado law censors the speech of mental health providers and that the First Amendment prohibits states from limiting the topics licensed therapists can discuss with their clients.
