Overview

• Chiles v. Salazar challenges Colorado’s 2019 law that bars licensed therapists from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, with exemptions for adults and unlicensed religious counselors.
• During arguments, conservative justices appeared open to the view that the ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted parallels to the Court’s treatment of Tennessee’s restrictions on gender‑affirming care.
• A lower appeals court had upheld Colorado’s statute by characterizing it as regulation of professional conduct that only incidentally involves speech.
• Plaintiff Kayley (Kaley) Chiles, a licensed counselor represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, frames her counseling as talk‑based and rooted in her Christian beliefs.
• Major medical and mental‑health organizations deem conversion therapy harmful, citing research such as a Stanford Medicine survey linking the practice to higher rates of depression, PTSD, and suicide attempts.