“Today, the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, backed the challenge to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, stating that the ban directly violates the First Amendment’s freedom of speech. While today’s opinion spoke directly to the merits (the core issue), it did not focus on the ban itself.
It is not lost upon us that this decision came on Trans Day of Visibility. This is not about protecting kids; it’s about personal feelings and beliefs that infringe on bodily autonomy under the guise of freedom of speech.
What does this opinion really mean?
Every day, kids come face-to-face with thoughts, feelings, and decisions about sexual orientation and gender identity. Some are privileged to have the support of their parents, guardians, and community, while many are left to navigate on their own. Safe spaces are required; sound advice without judgement is required and is exactly what many families and individuals are seeking when engaging in therapy services. All humans should be allowed to explore their identity without shame, judgement, and abuse for simply being who they are.
The court’s opinion strips away the ability for kids and their affirming parents and community to find acceptance and support in their mental health professionals. This sends a harmful message that weaponizes freedom of speech in a society that is compounding freedom of religion to shame kids and families.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted in her dissent that the court’s decision today would “open a dangerous can of worms” and “ultimately risks grave harm to Americans’ health and well-being.”
The parallel between this decision and abortion access could not be more connected. Crisis pregnancy centers in America have misled and convinced people who want abortions that it is unsafe, unethical, and unscientific. They spout misinformation about abortion that is not rooted in science or reflects the medical standard of care. They also work actively to manipulate and strip people of their right to make decisions fit for themselves.
Between financial cuts to the LGBTQ+ Youth 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, attempts to criminalize supportive parents under the guise of parental rights laws, and the move to ban LGBTQ+ content in schools, LGBTQ+ youth are facing increasing attacks on their ability to make decisions for themselves.
According to the Trevor Project, 15% of LGBTQ young people cited fear of being subjected to conversion therapy as the reason they did not seek out desired mental healthcare. This is exactly what Chiles will do; it will attack one’s bodily autonomy and continue to give mental health professionals free reign to spread dangerous misinformation about conversion therapy which has been heavily discredited by the nation’s top pediatric organizations.
As our friends at the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists shared, “This decision puts ideology over the safety of young people. Conversion therapy is not ministry, it is abuse.”
If the goal is to protect children with this decision, it fails in every way.” The Task Force will continue to show up for our people, our community, and those most marginalized by advocating for bodily autonomy, and access to equitable healthcare.
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