Youth's Lives Every Day
In March 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that they would hear a case on the topic of conversion therapy – the dangerous, discredited practice that attempts to change a young person’s sexuality or gender. On March 31, 2026, justices ruled 8-1 in favor of the petitioner, Kaley Chiles.
Here’s what you need to know about the case:
What is Chiles v. Salazar about?
In this case, the justices heard a challenge to a Colorado state law protecting youth under the age of 18 from being subjected to conversion therapy by licensed mental health professionals. The petitioner in this case was Kaley Chiles. Chiles is a mental health counselor in Colorado who filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, claiming that the law in question infringed on her freedom of speech. The respondent in this case was Patty Salazar, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, and she represented the state of Colorado. Colorado maintains this law is a legitimate regulation of a specific health care treatment, and protects kids in the state from abusive practices that are proven to cause harm, including increasing depression, anxiety, and suicide risk.
What is conversion therapy?
Conversion therapy refers to practices that seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite their name, these practices are in no way legitimate “therapy,” and lack any standards or basis in evidence. These unscientific practices are rooted in outdated ideas that LGBTQ+ people are “unnatural” or need to be “cured.” Historically, these practices have involved behavior modification and painful aversive treatments, as well as discredited psychoanalytic theories such as the claim that being gay is “caused” by faulty parenting, trauma, or abuse.
What does the research say about conversion therapy?
Extensive research has been conducted on the topic of conversion therapy, and its harms on young people. Research shows that LGBTQ+ youth who experienced conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to attempt suicide and more than 2.5 times as likely to report multiple suicide attempts in the past year.
These practices are also associated with an extensive list of long-lasting social and emotional consequences, including:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Suicidality
- Substance abuse
- A range of post-traumatic responses
- Loss of connection to community
- Damaged familial relationships
- Self-blame
- Guilt
- Shame
What do medical experts say about conversion therapy?
Medical consensus on this issue is clear: conversion therapy is a debunked, rejected practice that causes psychological harm to young people. Every major medical and mental health association in the United States, including The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, and The American Medical Association, has condemned these practices – and they support laws that protect kids from harm, like the Colorado law at the center of this case. Ethical mental health professionals support these regulations because the psychological harms of these practices are clear – and because they know it is important for people seeking mental health support to feel they can trust the care they receive.
Protections against conversion therapy have broad bipartisan, religious, and public support.
Laws that protect young people from conversion therapy, like Colorado’s law, have broad bipartisan and religious support. Since 2012, Republican legislators have supported bans on conversion therapy introduced into legislatures all across the United States more than 1,000 times.
Many religious groups continue to express support for banning these dangerous practices, with nearly 400 religious leaders across the globe calling to end conversion therapy worldwide in 2020. In recent years, dozens of former “ex-gay” movement leaders and founders of conversion therapy programs have publicly denounced these practices, too.
A majority of Americans reject conversion therapy, and support efforts to protect LGBTQ+ youth from its harms. 2025 polling data found that a majority of adults in the United States (56%) think conversion therapy should be illegal to use on minors.
How did the Supreme Court rule in Chiles v. Salazar?
On March 31, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that the conversion therapy practices in question in this case can be “protected speech” under the first amendment, and sent the case back down to the lower court to be revisited. In doing so, justices sided with the petitioner, Kaley Chiles, in an 8-1 decision. The full opinion can be read here.
What does the ruling in Chiles v. Salazar mean?
This ruling means that the previous Colorado law that prohibited licensed mental health professionals from subjecting their clients under age 18 to conversion therapy practices will be re-assessed. The justices determined that the statute, as written, needs to be held to a “heightened level of scrutiny” to ensure it is “viewpoint neutral.” In other words, they deemed that the law likely violates people’s constitutional rights – in this case, “free speech” first amendment rights – and needs to be revised. This ruling may impact similar laws that have been enacted in more than 20 states across the country to protect LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health.
Importantly, this case is about how conversion therapy can be regulated, not about whether it is a safe or legal practice. The facts on these practices remain the same: every major U.S. medical and mental health authority still agrees conversion therapy is unethical, harmful, and associated with increased rates of suicidality, anxiety, and depression. Individuals subjected to conversion therapy still have many legal options available for recourse – such as filing consumer fraud claims and pursuing medical malpractice lawsuits, and The Trevor Project is already working with lawmakers in states across the country to ensure survivors have the ability to bring these claims forward.
This decision does represent a disappointing blow to hard-won protections for LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health in states across the country. But, ultimately, it does not change the dangerous, discredited nature of these practices, nor does it prevent practitioners from being held accountable for the harms they inflict on young people.
How has The Trevor Project weighed in on the Chiles v. Salazar case?
The Trevor Project, together with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, filed an amicus brief, or “friend of the court” brief in this case. The brief presents evidence on the serious mental health harms that conversion therapy causes for LGBTQ+ youth, reflecting peer-reviewed research, national survey data, stories of conversion therapy survivors, and The Trevor Project’s unique insights, hearing directly for youth in crisis describing their experiences with these practices.
For decades, The Trevor Project has been a leading voice in the fight to end conversion therapy in the United States and across the globe, and remains committed to protecting LGBTQ+ young people from this dangerous and discredited practice — and creating a world where all young people feel safe, seen, and supported exactly as they are.
*Take action today: Tell your lawmakers to help protect LGBTQ+ youth in your state.*
