Ruling in favor of Christian legal group could undermine care and rights for LGBTQ+ youth across the country
US supreme court appears poised to overturn Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’ Ruling in favor of Christian legal group could undermine care and rights for LGBTQ+ youth across the country Sam Levin and Rachel Leingang Tue 7 Oct 2025 12.32 EDT Share The US supreme court appeared ready to rule against a Colorado law that bans “conversion therapy” practices that seek to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity, repeatedly questioning the state over whether the law hindered free speech and whether these practices have been proven harmful.
The high-stakes case could roll back the rights of LGBTQ+ youth across the country. Colorado is one of more than 20 states in the US that have banned conversion practices, and a ruling in favor of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal group, could make those laws vulnerable to similar challenges.
In Chiles v Salazar, ADF is representing a woman who objected to a 2019 Colorado law outlawing conversion practices for youth under age 18. The law applies to licensed mental health clinicians who seek to change a patient’s gender identity or sexual orientation, discredited tactics that major medical associations have said are ineffective and harmful.
It was only ever about states’ “right” to be bigoted and otherwise abuse minority populations.
The civil war wasn’t even about the North trying to stop slavery in the South. It was about the South not being allowed to force other states to abide by the rules of slavery.
Specifically, they wanted states that had abolished slavery to allow slave catchers to arrest and return escaped slaves within their borders.
Sound familiar?