By Katelynn Richardson
Democrat-led states are searching for ways to keep censoring counselor conversations about gender after a near-unanimous Supreme Court came down against viewpoint discrimination.
In an 8-1 ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court held Colorado’s so-called “conversion therapy” ban regulated Christian counselor Kaley Chiles’ speech based on viewpoint.
Twenty-three states, along with the District of Columbia, have laws like Colorado’s, according to the Movement Advance Project. Many are realizing the ruling could open them up to more legal challenges. (RELATED: Liberal Justices Baffled By Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Solo Dissent In ‘Textbook’ Free Speech Case)
Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said his administration is reviewing the Chiles v. Salazar ruling to “determine the full implications for Maryland law and any appropriate next steps,” according to Maryland Matters.
“For Marylanders, our law remains in place for now, but this decision may make it more vulnerable to legal challenges,” Jeremy Browning, director of the Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs, told the outlet on Wednesday. “That raises real concerns about our ability to prevent harm before it happens.”
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark told Vermont Public she would talk to state lawmakers about whether they should adjust the law to protect it from legal challenges.
“Our law is actually pretty good,” Clark told the outlet Thursday. “Any recommended changes that we have — I think it’s probably going to be more of a tweak than an overhaul.”
Members of the group “Concerned Women for America” pray outside the US Supreme Court as the Court hears oral arguements in Chiles v. Salazar, a landmark case on “conversion therapy,” on October 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrat lawmakers in some states are pushing legislation to allow patients to sue for alleged damages from “conversion therapy,” including in Colorado, where such a bill advanced in the state House on Wednesday.
“While the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Colorado’s conversion therapy ban law is deeply harmful, we’re not giving up the fight to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Coloradans,” Democratic Colorado state Rep. Karen McCormick said in a statement. “It can take years for an individual to realize that the trauma of conversion therapy has caused anxiety, depression or other long-term health impacts, but Colorado law only allows two years to file a damages claim against a provider. Our bill addresses this gap, allowing LGBTQ+ Coloradans time to heal and a fair process to hold those who have caused long-lasting impacts accountable.”
One California lawmaker recently proposed a bill that “allows survivors of conversion therapy to seek civil remedies and justice through malpractice lawsuits.”
“In light of the Supreme Court’s horrific ruling … we must create new strategies to protect LGBTQ youth,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle. “All major medical associations agree that no ‘therapy’ can change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Attempting to do so only provokes profound feelings of shame and trauma and leads to depression and suicidality.”
The ruling’s requirement for laws like Colorado’s to face the highest First Amendment scrutiny will “apply to every single one of these laws around the country,” Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, explained on a press call Tuesday.
“The one thing we know is that whenever a court has applied that kind of heightened scrutiny to one of these laws, it has struck it down,” he said. “We think this decision will lead directly to all of those laws being unconstitutional to the extent that they try to be applied to someone like Kaley who is just engaged in voluntary conversations.”
The Sixth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have similarly found talk therapy is speech protected by the First Amendment, coming down against “conversion therapy” bans in Michigan and a Florida county.
“Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his majority opinion. “Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth.”
Some major medical organizations have recently walked back guidance related to caring for minors with gender dysphoria. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced in February that it now opposes sex-change surgeries for minors, recommending delaying the procedures until at least 19 years of age.
Transgender treatments can lead to a lifetime of pain, discomfort, and medications. As Britain’s National Health Service explains, hormones “need to be taken for the rest of your life, even if you have gender surgery.” An FDA official who supported giving minors puberty blockers conceded that they actually increase suicidality. Indeed, the “FDA knew ‘gender affirming’ puberty blockers increase ‘suicidality’ in 2017,” reported Just the News.
Even the transgender lawyer who challenged Tennessee’s restrictions on transgender treatments for kids admitted to the Supreme Court that “completed suicide is thankfully and admittedly rare” among transgender youth, even those not given gender-affirming treatment, and that “there is no evidence…that this [transgender-affirming] treatment reduces completed suicide.” The ACLU’s Chase Strangio conceded that to the Supreme Court.
Yet doctors who did sex changes often falsely told parents that they needed to give their kids a sex change to keep them from committing suicide, even though this isn’t true. One of America’s most prominent gender doctors, “Dr. Olson-Kennedy disclosed to how she speaks with parents of gender dysphoric patients: ‘We often ask parents, “Would you rather have a dead son than a live daughter?”‘”
95% of young transgender people on testosterone develop pelvic floor dysfunction; most have bowel issues and sexual dysfunction. As the Telegraph reported, “Around 87 per cent…had urinary symptoms such as incontinence, frequent toilet visits and bed-wetting, while 74 per cent had bowel issues including constipation or being unable to hold stools or wind in. Some 53 per cent suffered from sexual dysfunction…Almost half had an ‘orgasm disorder’, while a quarter suffered from pain during sexual intercourse.”
