When Colorado banned conversion therapy in 2019 along with twenty-three other states, it wasn’t without reason. The practice – an attempt at forcibly “correcting” a person’s sexuality or gender identity – is not considered a safe, effective, or legitimate practice by virtually any accredited medical organizations.
It has been discredited by the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American School Counselor Association, and the American School Health Association, among many others.
Research from these organizations and others has shown time and time again that conversion therapy cannot ultimately change a person’s sexuality or identity. The one thing that conversion therapy is consistently shown to be successful at is leaving victims traumatized, depressed, suicidal, and more likely to develop drug addictions or dysfunctional relationships.
Furthermore, a 2020 review study in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice found that the supposed evidence for conversion therapy’s success touted by its supporters is scientifically invalid, relying on flawed methods of design and biased sampling. Come 2026, the supreme court has forced Colorado to throw all of that evidence out in favor of one therapist’s insistence on profiting off of this dangerous and discredited practice.
Kaley Chiles, a practicing therapist at Deeper Stories Counseling in Colorado Springs, Colorado successfully challenged Colorado’s conversion therapy ban by claiming that it obstructs free speech.
Reacting to the ruling, Cam Elkin ‘26, an aspiring medical student who has already gained experience in the medical field through AFS’s MedEx program and a shadow position at Jefferson Health, was quick to question the applicability of “free speech” to medical practice. “From my experience studying medicine…I don’t think that the idea of free speech really applies to this, because it’s psychological services for minors.”
Not keen to take it from a high school student? Take it from the expert. American Psychological Association (APA) CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD echoed Elkin’s point in his organization’s official statement on the court case, saying that the ruling “will determine not only the fate of ‘conversion therapy’ bans, but the broader authority of state licensing boards to enforce best practices—often enacted for the safety and protection of consumers.”
Put simply, therapy is not a public forum for opinions, but rather a medical treatment in which speech is instructional and deeply impacts patients’ thoughts and behavior. That is why you need a degree and a license to be a therapist, and that is why countless research organizations like the APA exist to continuously review psychological practices and determine which are safest. A ban on conversion therapy isn’t about silencing the opinions of those who don’t support the queer community, it’s about banning proven medical malpractice.
It is ironic that it proves so hard to explain why adults should not be meddling in the identities of minors to the same people who understand why that’s wrong when they imagine it being done to cisgender, straight children. In support of Chiles, a statement by the conservative organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) criticized the former ban on conversion therapy by saying; “Children in Colorado can be counseled towards … surgeries – but not the reverse.” Their statement’s argument rests heavily on the unproven assumption that somewhere, in the shadows, nefarious therapists are telling children to be gay and transgender.
I have great news for anybody who finds that idea disturbing: it isn’t happening, the monsters aren’t real. Until the ADF – or anyone, for that matter – can produce proof of the existence of a singular conversion camp designed to force children into being queer, I think it is safe to say that this threat is imagined.
The rhetoric of healthcare providers and of LGBTQ+ support organizations is that medical transitions are an option for transgender people rather than a necessity – far from ADF’s implication that these entities push people “towards surgeries.”
For example, Jefferson Health in Philadelphia states that before going through with gender-affirming care, potential patients should determine whether it is right for them – their gender-affirming care provider Marina Khazan stated “Only you can answer that question.”
Additionally, the LGBTQIA+ Resources Center at University of California Davis states that “A trans person’s gender identity is real regardless of their choice to transition.” To summarize, the very types of organizations that conservatives accuse of pressuring people into medical transitions do the opposite.
If they were truly hellbent on forcing people to transition, why would they state that it is not required and emphasize that patients should carefully decide for themselves whether it is what they truly want before going through with it?
It almost seems that any response to queer identity that isn’t outright shaming is “pressuring,” according to the ADF’s logic. Conversion therapy cannot be defended as a “response” or “alternative” when there is no existing problem for it to respond to. The only “problem” that it “addresses” is the existence of queer people.
Myths of gay indoctrination, which is so plainly nonexistent, only gain traction because people refuse to believe that somebody could be gay or transgender naturally. A study by the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine concluded that sexuality is “not a choice,” adding; “expecting someone to simply stop their attraction as if they were turning off a switch or expecting conversion therapy to change their attraction is futile.”
Furthermore, if gay behavior was some perverse, unnatural invention of evil humans, why do more than 1,500 species of animals and insects participate in homosexuality? We are the only species that inflicts violence on people for being gay. Maybe that is the perversion.
You don’t have to like queerness, but to fear it so deeply that you would rather subject children to what United Nations experts deem psychological torture is a pathetic level of hate.
