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Vermont law now bans conversion therapy
By Guy Page
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Colorado law restricting how licensed counselors may speak with minors about sexual orientation and gender identity violates the First Amendment, siding with a therapist who challenged the statute.
Vermont law, passed in 2015, bans conversion therapy.
In a decision issued March 31 in Chiles v. Salazar, the Court held that Colorado’s ban on certain forms of “conversion therapy,” as applied to talk therapy, unlawfully restricts speech based on viewpoint.
The case was brought by Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor who argued that the law prevented her from engaging in voluntary conversations with clients seeking to change aspects of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Majority: Law targets speech, not just conduct
Writing for the Court, Neil Gorsuch said the Colorado statute goes beyond regulating medical treatment and instead dictates what counselors may say in sessions with patients.
The law allows therapists to affirm a client’s identity but prohibits speech aimed at helping a client change it — a distinction the Court said amounts to viewpoint discrimination.
“However well-intentioned,” laws that suppress speech based on viewpoint are an “egregious” violation of the First Amendment, the Court wrote.
The ruling reverses a lower court decision that had upheld the law under a more deferential standard, finding instead that restrictions on talk therapy must face heightened constitutional scrutiny.
Case centered on “conversion therapy” ban
Colorado enacted the law in 2019, prohibiting licensed counselors from engaging in practices aimed at changing a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The statute defines conversion therapy broadly, including efforts to “change behaviors or gender expressions” or reduce same-sex attraction, while permitting supportive or identity-affirming counseling.
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Categories: Court, National News
Hooray! Sanity prevails. But how many counselors will actually provide this talk therapy since the Left will probably threaten them.
Vermont is all about censorship.
Propaganda is king here.
This is wonderful news during Holy Week! Praise God!
Yes, praise God indeed! I thank Becket Cook, Rosaria Butterfield, Kirsten Searcy, and Jackie Jill Perry for their brave testimony over the years regarding how they left the gay lifestyle. Becket’s 2+ hour interview with Lila Rose was very interesting.
Amen, Ed! I don’t think I’ve listened to Lila Rose’s interview with Becket Cook. I’ll have to check it out. Becket Cook’s interview with Dr. Nicolosi a year ago is informative in how men often end up in the gay lifestyle and can come out of it. Jesus is is the Healer. He mends the broken-hearted and binds up all their wounds. I pray that many in the gay lifestyle come to know Jesus.
Thank God! Conversion therapy is really just sharing the gospel with someone who is stuck in a sinful life style.
Amen! The healing begins after accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.
Anyone can do a better job than Sarah George! Catch and release I not working for Vermont!
In the specific case, it is a victory for common sense but broadly, it is a landmark in the venues of parental rights and Freedom of Expression.
However, therapists can affirm a child’s idea that they are the opposite sex. They can affirm. What of people, there are such people, who are confused about their sex, and/or sexual preferences and are seeking council? Bans on “conversion therapy” limits the control of such people over their own lives.
Yeah. I don’t think the posters above understand what just happened.
So now, the _pseudo-medical_ “psychological treatment” of minors extends to treating for political, sexual, and religious ideology? This decision is not compatible with anything that history has taught us about human rights. No minor should bear sexual influence from a figure of authority except that minor’s lawful guardian.
Men, do you have your supplies ready? It looks like war is coming.
I want to think that Alliance Defending Freedom’s lawyer said it best that, “ Kids deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made.” SCOTUS agreed.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but while states can’t ban “conversion therapy” as speech, but they can still regulate it as harmful conduct, deceptive practice, unethical treatment, or actionable injury. Colorado has already taken steps in this direction. Short-lived victory for you homophobes.
As I heard Jimmy Faila say on the radio today: : if someone trying to trans a child, it’s not because they are trapped in the wrong body, they’re trapped in the wrong family or school.