Birthright citizenship, conversion therapy ban, trans sports: 5 Supreme Court decisions to watch in 2026
2. Colorado conversion therapy ban
In the case of Kaley Chiles v. Patty Salazar, executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, et al., the Supreme Court will determine if Colorado can stop a Christian counselor from engaging in therapy with minors seeking counseling for unwanted same-sex attraction or to help gender confused children accept their sex.
Kaley Chiles is challenging the Minor Conversion Therapy Law, a measure passed in 2019 that prohibits licensed counselors from counseling minors to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Chiles filed a legal challenge to the law in September 2022, arguing that it violated the First Amendment's Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against Chiles in September 2024, upholding an earlier district court ruling in favor of the Colorado law.
In March of last year, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in the case, with oral arguments being heard in the case last October.
According to the LGBT advocacy group Movement Advancement Project, 23 states and the District of Columbia ban conversion therapy for minors.
