WASHINGTON — In response to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chiles v. Salazar, a case brought on behalf of a licensed therapist who argued that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors violated her right to free speech, Equality California released the following statement:
“Conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice that has been rejected by every major medical and mental health organization in the country. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has weakened the ability of state licensing boards to regulate healthcare or to intervene if clinicians use unproven, misleading, or coercive techniques by reframing therapy as protected speech. The impact could be far broader than conversion therapy. Belief-based therapy could be extended to vaccines, psychiatric medicine, and abortion and contraception. The Supreme Court is moving our country backward and into dangerously uncharted territory. For decades, medical experts have made clear that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are ineffective and can cause serious psychological harm, including depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide. As Justice Jackson stated in her dissent, Not only is conversion therapy ineffective, former participants report that it causes lasting psychological harm. Gay and transgender children who underwent nonaversive conversion therapy say they were taught to feel shame and self-hatred. Survivors continue to suffer from PTSD, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. As one survivor put it, conversion therapy came close to killing me. Laws like those in place in California were enacted to protect young people from practices that stigmatize and endanger them. California was the first state in the nation to enact these protections with SB 1172 (Lieu) in 2012, which prohibits licensed providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors, but this decision threatens those protections. While this decision will have dangerous consequences, it also makes it even more important that survivors of conversion therapy have a path to justice. That is why Equality California is advancing SB 934 (Wiener), which would extend the statute of limitations for survivors to pursue civil claims against licensed mental health providers who subjected them to these harmful practices. Survivors often live with the trauma of conversion therapy for years before they are able to fully process what happened or come forward. SB 934 ensures survivors have the time they need to seek justice and hold those responsible accountable, making clear that conversion therapy has no place in California. Equality California will continue working with state leaders and partners to ensure California remains a place where LGBTQ+ people are protected from these abusive practices.”
“Conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice that has been rejected by every major medical and mental health organization in the country. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has weakened the ability of state licensing boards to regulate healthcare or to intervene if clinicians use unproven, misleading, or coercive techniques by reframing therapy as protected speech. The impact could be far broader than conversion therapy. Belief-based therapy could be extended to vaccines, psychiatric medicine, and abortion and contraception. The Supreme Court is moving our country backward and into dangerously uncharted territory.
For decades, medical experts have made clear that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are ineffective and can cause serious psychological harm, including depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide. As Justice Jackson stated in her dissent, Not only is conversion therapy ineffective, former participants report that it causes lasting psychological harm. Gay and transgender children who underwent nonaversive conversion therapy say they were taught to feel shame and self-hatred. Survivors continue to suffer from PTSD, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. As one survivor put it, conversion therapy came close to killing me.
Laws like those in place in California were enacted to protect young people from practices that stigmatize and endanger them. California was the first state in the nation to enact these protections with SB 1172 (Lieu) in 2012, which prohibits licensed providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors, but this decision threatens those protections.
While this decision will have dangerous consequences, it also makes it even more important that survivors of conversion therapy have a path to justice. That is why Equality California is advancing SB 934 (Wiener), which would extend the statute of limitations for survivors to pursue civil claims against licensed mental health providers who subjected them to these harmful practices. Survivors often live with the trauma of conversion therapy for years before they are able to fully process what happened or come forward. SB 934 ensures survivors have the time they need to seek justice and hold those responsible accountable, making clear that conversion therapy has no place in California.
Equality California will continue working with state leaders and partners to ensure California remains a place where LGBTQ+ people are protected from these abusive practices.”
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
