The article discusses a legal challenge concerning conversion therapy for minors, initiated by counselor Kaley Chiles in Colorado. Chiles claims that the state's ban on the practice violates her free speech rights. However, LGBTQ+ advocates assert that the challenge overshadows the real dangers of conversion therapy, which has been condemned by major health organizations for its harmful effects on youth. With 20 states enforcing bans on conversion therapy, many LGBTQ+ youths report experiencing threats or being subjected to these harmful practices, highlighting urgent mental health concerns.
"To be crystal clear: this challenge has nothing to do with free speech, and everything to do with pushing dangerous, debunked practices that have only been proven to cause irreparable harm to LGBTQ+ young people all across the country," said Casey Pick, The Trevor Project's director of law and policy.
More than 20 states have bans on subjecting minors to conversion therapy. But some 13% of LGBTQ+ young people in the Trevor Project's 2024 report on the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy.
Chiles' attorneys argued that Christian 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 added: 'Colorado disagrees with Chiles's beliefs on gender and sexuality. So much so that the State puts itself in Chiles's counseling room, forbidding her from discussing the values she and her clients share.'
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