""People have been trying to do conversion therapy for a hundred years with no record of success," Stevenson said in oral arguments. "There is no study, despite the fact that people tried to advance this practice, that has ever shown that it has any chance of being efficacious.""
"The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in a case that aims to undo several states' bans on "conversion therapy" for youth, a dangerous pseudoscientific practice that purports to "convert" gay people to heterosexuality or make transgender people become cisgender."
"Chiles's primary ADF lawyer, James Campbell, argued to the court that Colorado's ban on conversion therapy places an unlawful restriction on her ability to discuss methods her clients may want to pursue with regard to their identities, adding that her speech rights shouldn't be restricted "where there is debated science." Although there are a plethora of studies showcasing how conversion therapy harms LGBTQ people, particularly those under the age of 18, Chiles claims her version of the practice, which she calls "talk therapy," is different, and therefore should be permissible."
The Supreme Court heard Chiles v. Salazar, a challenge to state bans on conversion therapy for youth. Conversion therapy is described as a dangerous pseudoscientific practice claiming to "convert" gay people to heterosexuality or make transgender people cisgender. Plaintiff Kaley Chiles is a licensed Colorado counselor who sometimes incorporates Christian beliefs and is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization designated by the SPLC as a hate group. Her lawyers argued the ban unlawfully restricts speech, while Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson noted decades of attempts with no evidence of success and no studies supporting Chiles's methods.
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