Supreme Court’s conservative majority prepared to rule against conversion therapy ban

Demonstrators protest against conversion therapy outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, as the Court hears oral arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a landmark case on conversion therapy, on October 7, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

A majority of the Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it is prepared to rule against Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for minors, with several justices signaling they agree with a licensed counselor in the state who says the law violates her First Amendment rights.

In one of the most significant cases the high court will address this year, the justices were asked to decide if states may ban the discredited practice, which purports to “convert” gay people to heterosexuality or transgender people to cisgender. Roughly half of US states