10-03-2025
Colorado returns to national spotlight over LGBTQ+ rights
The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up a challenge to a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors in the latest instance of the state's pro-LGBTQ+ measures facing national scrutiny.
The big picture: The high court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to a 2019 law aimed at protecting young people.
The measure was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the U.S.
Why it matters: The high court's eventual decision could deal a major setback to the LGBTQ+ community, which the executive branch has already targeted with an executive order blitz that undermines protections and quality of life for transgender people.
State of play: This case represents a broader legal movement that's using First Amendment rights to reduce government oversight, University of Colorado Law School associate professor Scott Skinner-Thompson tells us.
The intrigue: Skinner-Thompson, who has filed an amicus brief in support of Colorado's law, says "weaponizing" the First Amendment has been used to target laws supporting LGBTQ+ rights.
"From my perspective ... this law is not targeted at speech, it's targeted at conduct," Skinner-Thompson says.
Flashback: Colorado has played a key role in cases involving LGTBQ+ rights decided by the Supreme Court over the past several years.
Two years ago, the high court said businesses can refuse to serve same-sex couples if doing so violates religious beliefs after a Colorado web designer declined to make a website for LGBTQ+ couples.
SCOTUS sided with a Christian baker from Lakewood in 2018 over his refusal to make a cake for a same-sex couple due to his beliefs.
Catch up quick: In the latest case, the high court agreed to take up a challenge from Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor at Deeper Stories Counseling in Colorado Springs.
Chiles alleges Colorado's restriction against licensed mental health professionals engaging in conversion therapy for minors violates her free speech rights.
Between the lines: Conversion therapy attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
LGBTQ+ advocates and major medical organizations have condemned the practice as harmful, discriminatory and ineffective.
Zoom in: Chiles' attorneys argued that clients seek her "Christian-based counseling" on questions about their sexuality that conflict with their faith, noting she works only with "voluntary clients."
Conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has argued other high-profile cases, said in the petition: "Colorado disagrees with Chiles's beliefs on gender and sexuality."
Chiles' lawyers pointed to a 5-4 decision from 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled that California could not force anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion.
The other side: Casey Pick, director of law and policy at The Trevor Project, in a statement to Axios said the challenge "has nothing to do with free speech, and everything to do with pushing dangerous, debunked practices."
What's next: The court will hear the latest case in its term beginning in October, meaning a decision likely won't come until summer 2026.
