LGBTQ individuals and their allied supporters are upset at the Supreme Court’s ruling of Chiles vs. Salazar. 8 justices favored with petitioner Kayley Chiles, overriding Colorado’s 2019 conversion therapy ban. Those who coincided with the counselor are under suspicion of defending unsupervised or unlicensed practitioners enacting faith and other harmful methods to align minors with heterosexuality or cisgender.

The conversion therapy ruling later changed from 7-1 to 8-1 when Justice Neil Gorsuch finalized his vote on Mar. 31, 2026. Colorado Regulatory Agencies Patty Salazar had only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at her side.

How Kayley Chiles Won Over the Supreme Court

According to the Alliance Defending Freedom’s website, Chiles is a licensed Colorado counselor who claimed she helps clients navigate their trauma relating to sexual abuse and undergoing discoveries of their biological sex. The Guardian highlighted that the Trump Administration supports her voluntary faith-based therapy for children.

Chiles argued that the state wrongfully barred her in 2019, using religious censorship to prevent further progression. Due to her Christian values, the 8 Supreme Court justices defended her argument using the 1st amendment.

Justice Gorsuch said, “[The Colorado conversion therapy ban] censors speech based on viewpoint. [The 1st amendment] reflects judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and faith in a free marketplace of free ideas as the best means for discovering truth. Any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.”

Why Conversion Therapy Is Not Considered Free Speech

LGBTQ supporters revolted against the Supreme Court’s decision after Gorsuch submitted his vote. They are right to be frustrated because the Colorado ban prohibited religion and ministries from psychiatric practices involving minors. The bill described the following signs of its use on clients:

• Efforts to change an individual’s sexual orientation.
• Forcing behavioral change or gender expressions.
• Eliminate romantic attraction for the same sex.
• Professionals show no support or coping assistance for self-acceptance.

The Alliance Defending Freedom describes Chiles’ counseling as private, helping clients suppress sexual behavior and be more comfortable being cisgender. The organization claimed that her patients share her Christian faith and wished to be under medical guidance by those under it.

Their website’s language indicates the Colorado counselor is attempting to abuse the 1st amendment to resume performing her conversion therapy on LGBTQ individuals under 18. While everyone has the right to practice a religion, using it to push personal ideals onto people is considered fanaticism.

Fanaticism is the act of portraying a belief or interest to an extreme, unreasonable degree. Adolf Hitler famously used this tactic, which led to the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II. Today, it’s everywhere. US President Donald Trump has repeated similar tactics, including LGBTQ discrimination.

Chiles’ conversion therapy should not be protected under the 1st amendment. It should only shield her Christian faith if she was chastised, which Colorado and Salazar did not do. They recognized that her counseling was medical malpractice.

Ketanji Brown Jackson and Faith Leaders Speak Out

Justice Brown Jackson wrote a warning addressed to the Supreme Court in her dissent. She said, “[This decision] threatens to impair states’ ability to regulate medical care in any respect. It extends the Constitution into uncharted territory in an utterly irrational fashion. And it ultimately risks grave harm to Americans’ health and well-being.”

The allied justice realized the Trump-associated justices are willing to progress and override the law, even if it’s under state government. LGBTQ individuals are already struggling socially in the country as the Trump administration continues its operations in the White House. As for healthcare, there were already red flags shown when Robert Kennedy Jr. became the US Health Secretary.

And Chiles v. Salazar’s 8-1 ruling isn’t agreeable in the religious space, either. This is due to historical events involving the endangerment of children in religious groups, with more than two-thirds of instances reported. To this day, over 20 US faith leaders and organizations are against conversion therapy for its immoral practices.

The Interface Alliance responded to the Colorado counselor’s win with displeasure, “[We continue] to believe that so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is deeply dangerous and destructive to the LGBTQ+ youth. [The Mar. 31st] ruling will not deter us from partnering with diverse faith communities to support bans and regulations on these practices when they involve children.”