Supreme Court Strikes Down Colorado Conversion Therapy Ban 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on March 31, 2026 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's ban on conversion therapy, as applied to talk therapy discussing gender-transition issues, violates the First Amendment's free speech protections. Justice Neil Gorsuch — one of Trump's three SCOTUS appointees — wrote the majority opinion. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissent. The ruling does not prohibit states from banning conversion therapy altogether, but places limits on how broadly such bans can restrict licensed therapists' speech in confidential patient conversations. LGBT+ advocacy groups warned the ruling would embolden states to roll back conversion therapy protections established over the previous decade. The decision was a significant victory for religious and social conservative groups aligned with the Trump administration, which filed a brief supporting the therapists.