Conversion therapy is a discredited anti-LGBTQ practice that many health experts say is akin to torture.
By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT
October 8, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a case that aims to undo several states’ bans on “conversion therapy” for youth, a dangerous pseudoscientific practice that purports to “convert” gay people to heterosexuality or make transgender people become cisgender.
The case, Chiles v. Salazar, centers upon Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor in Colorado who sometimes incorporates her Christian beliefs in her methods. She is represented by lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom, a far right organization that frequently targets its legal efforts against LGBTQ people and that has been recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group.
Chiles’s primary ADF lawyer, James Campbell, argued to the court that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy places an unlawful restriction on her ability to discuss methods her clients may want to pursue with regard to their identities, adding that her speech rights shouldn’t be restricted “where there is debated science.” Although there are a plethora of studies showcasing how conversion therapy harms LGBTQ people, particularly those under the age of 18, Chiles claims her version of the practice, which she calls “talk therapy,”is different, and therefore should be permissible.
Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson disagreed, noting that there have been zero studies suggesting Chiles’s methods would fare any better.
“People have been trying to do conversion therapy for a hundred years with no record of success,” Stevenson said in oral arguments. “There is no study, despite the fact that people tried to advance this practice, that has ever shown that it has any chance of being efficacious.”
Still, the court’s conservative majority appeared willing to accept Chiles’s arguments, indicating that, at the end of this term, the justices may rule that bans on conversion therapy, which have been enacted in a total of 23 states, are unconstitutional.
Chief Justice John Roberts suggested he felt that therapists shouldn’t be restricted from talking about conversion therapy. “Just because they are engaged in conduct doesn’t mean their words aren’t protected,” he said at one point.
Justice Samuel Alito described conversion therapy bans as “blatant viewpoint discrimination” because such bans limit speech from therapists questioning the gender identity or sexuality of minors.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, however, one of the court’s three liberal justices, was skeptical of the idea that limiting therapy options was a violation of Chiles’s First Amendment rights.
“I understand if Ms. Chiles here were writing an article about conversion therapy or writing or giving a speech about it” that such restrictions may be improper, Jackson said. “I’m just trying to understand how the First Amendment protects that doctor from providing therapy that is outside the standard of care.”
Jackson also pointed out the court’s hypocrisy, noting that conservatives of the court who are open to overturning bans on conversion therapy voted to uphold bans on gender-affirming care in other states earlier this year.
“I’m wondering why this regulation at issue here isn’t really just the functional equivalent of Skrmetti,” Jackson said, referring to that previous case. “It just seems odd to me that we might have a different result here.”
With liberals in the minority — and Justice Elena Kagan appearing to show some sympathies toward Chiles’s and the ADF’s arguments — it is likely that the Supreme Court will overturn Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, and potentially overturn similar bans in 22 other states.
Conversion therapy has been widely discredited by scientific studies and is viewed by many health professionals as being tantamount to torture. One such study from 2020 found that LGBTQ people exposed to conversion therapy were twice as likely to have future episodes of suicide ideation than were those who had never experienced it. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has also denounced the practice, calling for it to be banned on a global scale.
Several observers have called for Supreme Court justices to ignore discredited arguments in defense of conversion therapy and to uphold Colorado’s statewide ban.
“Conversion ‘therapy’ is a discredited and deceptive practice that hurts patients and families,” Rep. Mark Takano (D-California), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a statement just before the court’s Tuesday hearing convened. “Almost half of states have taken steps to protect young LGBTQI+ people from these cruel practices, which I hope the Supreme Court will rightly recognize as a just and constitutional use of their powers.”
“So-called ‘conversion therapy’ is not therapy. It’s a discredited pseudoscience rooted in shame, rejection and fear…The Supreme Court must uphold the constitutionality of these legal restrictions,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson.
Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, also urged the Court to uphold the ban, stating:
“It is unimaginable to see fringe practices that have been debunked, discredited, and known to cause harm for decades now being debated before our country’s highest court. While many people believe these practices are a relic of the past, they are sadly still harming young Americans in communities all across the U.S. today. I strongly urge the justices to uphold Colorado’s law, which was based on decades of evidence and medical consensus, and continue to allow more than 20 states across the country to protect children from these dangerous practices.”
Conversion therapy “is a sick form of abuse that has harmed LGBTQ+ Americans for decades,” Tyler Hack, executive director of The Christopher Street Project, said in a press release. “Colorado and the 20+ states that have banned conversion therapy are following recommendations from experts and scientists.”
Hack also denounced the ADF for its inclusion in the case, noting that it has been designated a hate group by the SPLC.
“ADF and MAGA are one in the same — they are attempting to legislate trans and queer people out of existence, and now they are using Trump’s SCOTUS to peddle an agenda rooted in pseudoscience, extremism, and hate,” Hack added.
