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US Supreme Court Rejects Colorado's Conversion Therapy Ban

Is the Supreme Court's conversion therapy ruling a landmark free speech victory or a devastating blow to LGBTQ+ youth protections?

Published 1 day ago

US Supreme Court Rejects Colorado's Conversion Therapy Ban

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Above: LGBTQ+ flags fly as the annual Denver PrideFest parade goes by along Colfax Avenue on June 19, 2016. Image credit: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/Getty Images

The Spin

Democratic narrative

The Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling tears down vital protections for LGBTQ+ youth by treating a discredited, harmful practice as protected speech. Conversion therapy is a scam that causes real damage to young people, and states have every right to ban it on public health grounds. Colorado will keep fighting to protect LGBTQ+ youth from predatory practices that science has thoroughly rejected.

Office of Colorado Governor

Jared Polis on X

Phil Weiser on X

Republican narrative

The ruling is a landmark victory for free speech, rightly stopping Colorado from censoring voluntary counseling conversations based on viewpoint. A law that allows talk of gender transition but bans helping kids grow comfortable in their own bodies isn't public health policy — it's government-enforced ideological orthodoxy. The First Amendment exists precisely to shield Americans from that kind of state-mandated thought control.

Jim Banks on X Alliance Defending Freedom

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 12% chance that an openly LGBTQ+ person will be elected president of the United States by 2041, according to the Metaculus prediction community.