A new Supreme Court decision created weariness that the state legislation banning conversion therapy may be pushed aside — the reality is that is not the full story.
In Chiles v. Salazar, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in an 8-1 decision that conversion therapy could not be banned in the form of talk therapy, which focuses on mental and emotional health. The decision does not legalize physically harmful practices.
The ruling regards Colorado’s state law against conversion therapy. Under this new decision, Minnesota’s 2023 ban on conversion therapy could be scrutinized.
“It’s not surprising,” Rep. Leigh Finke (DFL-Roseville) said. “We know who the court is, we know what they do, but it’s a very difficult ruling on conversion therapy.”
Twin Cities Pride Executive Director Andi Otto said the decision acted as low-hanging fruit for the court to attack.
“There’s a whole lack of information, and that they truly do not see the harm that it can cause,” Otto said.
Conversion therapy is the emotional or physical practice of “curing” a person’s attraction to the same sex or their gender identity. The National Alliance on Mental Illness believes “no one should be subject to practices that can cause or worsen mental health symptoms.” Conversion therapy is not a medically approved practice.
“I equate it as equivalent as to child abuse,” Otto said.
Licensed professional counselor Kaley Chiles sued Colorado officials based on the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Exercise Clauses. Prior to the 2019 ban of conversion therapy in Colorado, she would counsel patients using conversion therapy practices if they asked for it.
OutFront Minnesota Executive Director Kat Rohn said the ruling only applies to Colorado law until a national decision is made by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s not like a sort of broad-reaching piece,” Rohn said. “It will have ripples across the country, but I think that’s part of why the decision was an eight-to-one.”
Gender Justice said the decision could invite legal attacks on the Minnesota law, which prohibits children and vulnerable adults from conversion therapy. Similar to Colorado’s law, the ruling would deregulate talk therapy, but would still ban physically harmful practices.
“Folks do expect that the 10th circuit, with this framework, will say this is not a viewpoint-neutral piece of legislation, and therefore needs to be adjusted if it were to be enforceable,” Rohn said.
Minnesota law only bans conversion therapy in medical spaces, but it is still allowed in religious ones.
“Conversion therapy has never been gone from pastoral care,” Finke said. “The places where conversion therapy had always had its home. It’s never been removed from there because we simply do not have the political access to those spaces to ban it.”
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only one to dissent. She said the decision ignored the tradition of states regulating medical professionals’ treatment conduct.
The law was said to have opposed First Amendment rights to free speech, ruling in favor of Chiles.
“There is a broader effort to try and roll back some of the wins that have protected communities,” Rohn said. “Folks bringing this case had a clear intention of trying to test the bounds of constitutionality around this important issue and to challenge states like Colorado that have taken steps to protect folks.”
Chiles v. Salazar is another case in a string of LGBTQIA+ related issues, raised during the second Trump Administration. A 2025 Supreme Court decision upheld a Tennessee and Kentucky law to restrict transgender minors from seeking gender-affirming care. The Trump Administration sued Minnesota for a transgender athlete participating in girls’ sports. Trump has signed executive orders targeting transgender people.
“It [conversion therapy] is unlikely to suddenly stop or to suddenly explode and grow, but I do think that it’s going to mean that we need to do more work to support folks who have been put through this, and to continue to educate people around the state about the difference between conversion therapy and real therapeutic practice,” Rohn said.
