Conversion therapy survivors are on edge as the US Supreme Court rejects the ban

The US Supreme Court has ruled that banning medical reform for children is a violation of free speech. But a man who practiced the practice himself says the ban is about protecting young people who are at high risk – and sometimes fatal – from harm.

In an 8-1 decision on Tuesdaythe US supreme court struck down Colorado law 2019 which prohibits licensed therapists from attempting to change a child’s gender or gender identity.

Known as conversion therapy, the practice has been widely dismissed as ineffective, and in some cases, dangerous — something Denver’s Simon Kent Fung does very well.

Not only has he seen it for himself, but he has spent years researching its implications on his podcast Hello Alanawhich follows the story of a woman who died by suicide after years of treatment.

“The first line of defense with this law and laws like this is gone,” Fung said As It Happened hosted by Nil Köksal. “There will be real risks to people’s mental health, especially when they are in vulnerable situations and looking for solutions.”

Free speech versus medical law

The case was brought forward by Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor who sued the state in 2022, claiming the ban violated her free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

A lower court upheld Colorado’s ban, agreeing with the state’s assertion that it has the right to regulate medical practices. But the Supreme Court Justices sided with Chiles.

“Colorado may view its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, innocent governments throughout history have believed the same,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch, who presided over the decision.

“But the First Amendment is a safeguard against any attempt to impose orthodoxy on thought or speech in this country.”

Liberal ⁠Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the lone dissenter, said there was nothing unconstitutional about the Colorado law.

“The Constitution does not impose a barrier to the regulation of dangerous medical treatment simply because inferior care comes with a speech instead of a scalpel,” he wrote.

Jackson warned that the decision would “open a dangerous can of worms” that “threatens to undermine the ability of states to regulate the provision of medical care in any way.”

“He’s stretching the Constitution to an unprecedented level in a completely unreasonable way,” he wrote. “And ultimately it risks serious harm to the health and well-being of the American people.”

American Psychological Association mentions it often great lessons indicating a change in treatment it is not based on evidencebe little is without consequence to change another person’s gender or gender identity, and leads to higher levels of depression, substance abuse, low levels of income and education, self-harm and to commit suicide.

Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez, who protested the decision at a rally in New York City on Wednesday, said his medical experience left him with the disease “a decade of navigating depression and substance abuse left behind.”

“My heart and prayers are with the LGBTQ+ youth of Colorado who are now in a particularly dangerous situation, and with the survivors of these stories that are reopening old wounds,” he wrote in a statement.

The plaintiff defends his practice

The administration of US President Donald Trump supported Chile, which was represented by a group of religious lawyers, the Alliance Defending Freedom.

He said he “believes that people thrive when they live according to God’s design, including their natural sexuality.”

Chiles asserted that his patients come to him voluntarily and that he only helps them achieve their stated goals, and that he never uses physical techniques such as shock therapy, which have historically been linked to conversion therapy.

“I look forward to being able to help them if they choose the goal of growing comfortable with their bodies,” said Chiles’ statement.

Fung says conversion therapy is dangerous even if people participate willingly. She signed up voluntarily, as did Alana Chen, the Colorado woman at the center of her podcast, who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 24.

He said young people encounter conversion therapy when they are most at risk, struggling to reconcile their faith with their identity. Parents say they register their children because they are afraid and want answers.

But the results, he says, are often negative.

“What it does is often create a rift between the child and their parents by telling them, ‘Oh, it’s your parents’ fault that you’re just like that,'” he said.

“It destroys faith. Many people who go through conversion therapy end up abandoning their religion and religion.”

Nationwide results

More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia restrict or prohibit conversion therapy for patients under the age of 18.

Now, advocates are concerned that all of those laws are ineffective.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign LGBT, which filed a brief in support of the law, said the “Supreme Court decision” means many American children will suffer.

Regardless of what happens next, Fung wants people considering conversion therapy to know they have options.

“There is a growing group of people, families and young people who are tired of being given this binary that you have to completely discard your beliefs, or you need to go to conversion therapy,” he said.

“There are families and therapists and others who are creating solutions and looking for ways to help fill this void currently created by these cultural wars, where unfortunately people are injured and sometimes they can die.”