Appeals court upholds Colorado, U.S.A., conversion therapy ban

On Thursday, a federal appeals court in the U.S.A. upheld a lower court’s decision that maintains Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors, ruling that the law does not violate the U.S.A. Constitution, as claimed by a Christian therapist, ‘The Hill’ reports.

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counsellor based in Colorado Springs, challenged the law in 2022, arguing that it interfered with her ability to treat individuals with “same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion” who “prioritize their faith above their feelings.”

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Chiles, who exclusively employs talk therapy in her practice, stated that she works with “adults who are seeking Christian counseling and minors who are internally motivated to seek counseling.” She explained that her aim is to support her clients in achieving their “stated desires and objectives,” which at times may involve reducing or eliminating “unwanted sexual attractions” or learning to “grow in the experience of harmony with one’s physical body.”

According to court documents, Chiles, a trauma specialist, previously treated addiction and personality disorders before developing an interest in gender dysphoria and sexuality.

Attorneys representing Chiles at the Christian legal organisation Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) stated that she “does not try to help minors change their attractions, behavior, or identity, when her minor clients tell her they are not seeking such change.”

However, they argued that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy—a discredited approach aimed at altering a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity—still placed Chiles in a difficult position, compelling her to “deny voluntary counseling that fully explores sexuality and gender” to clients, contradicting her and her clients’ religious beliefs as well as the First Amendment, which safeguards freedom of speech.

In a 2-1 ruling on Thursday, a panel of the 10th U.S.A. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the law regulates professional conduct rather than speech, thereby upholding a district court ruling from 2022.

Judge Veronica S. Rossman documented in the court’s opinion that the law “does not prohibit a mental health professional from discussing what conversion therapy is, what her views on conversion therapy are, or who can legally provide this treatment to her minor clients.” She clarified that it merely prohibits a mental health professional from practicing conversion therapy herself.

In a statement, ADF legal counsel Cody Barnett indicated that the organisation “will consider all options” to continue contesting the law, which was signed by Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis—the first openly gay man elected governor in the U.S.A.—in 2019.

“Counseling is speech, not conduct, and it must be treated as such under the First Amendment. The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors, nor should a counselor be used as a tool to impose the government’s biased views on her clients,” Barnett stated.

The Supreme Court declined in December to review a similar law in Washington state. Three of the court’s conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh—expressed their willingness to hear the case.

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