The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear a dispute over a licensed counselor’s ability to talk to her clients through faith and understanding when consulting on gender identity issues.
The case, Chiles v. Salazar, involves Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor in Colorado, who sued state officials after Colorado passed a law in 2019 banning conversion therapy. The law applies to patients who are under 18 years old. Ms. Chiles sued Patty Salazar, who leads the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, to challenge the ban.
Ms. Chiles said in her petition that the law is mislabeled and bans speech by prohibiting counselors from working with clients to change how they feel about their gender or attraction to a person of the same sex.
The state does not ban counseling that accepts or supports same-sex orientation or gender transitioning, according to Ms. Chiles’ court filing.
Ms. Chiles, represented by the religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said the law runs afoul of the First Amendment since it discriminates based upon viewpoint.
ADF President Kristen Waggoner noted the “growing consensus around the world that adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria need love and an opportunity to talk through their struggles and feelings.”
“Colorado’s law prohibits what’s best for these children and sends a clear message: the only option for children struggling with these issues is to give them dangerous and experimental drugs and surgery that will make them lifelong patients,” she said. “We are eager to defend Kaley’s First Amendment rights and ensure that government officials may not impose their ideology on private conversations between counselors and clients.”
Colorado says it is regulating conduct of health professionals subject to discipline, which 20 other states permit.
A lower court agreed with the state that the law regulates conduct, not speech. The decision prompted Ms. Chiles to appeal.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser vowed to defend the state’s law, which he called merely the latest in a long line of medical rules “to protect patients from unsafe, harmful professional conduct.”
“Colorado’s law protecting young people from unscientific and cruel gay conversion therapy practices is humane, smart, and appropriate. We prevailed at the district court and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and we’re committed to defending the law at the Supreme Court,” he said.
More than 20 states and 100 localities have laws that regulate a counselor’s ability to converse with minor patients suffering from gender dysphoria.
It took four justices to vote in favor of hearing the case, which will be argued next term.
No date for the hearing has been set at this time, but the new term begins in October 2025 and runs through June 2026.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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