The Fight to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth and Adults: Understanding Conversion Therapy and the Supreme Court Case That Could Change Everything

                                             By Jessica Anne Pressler LCSW

What Is Conversion Therapy?

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), is a discredited practice that promises to "convert" people from being gay, lesbian, or bisexual to straight, or to change transgender and gender non-conforming individuals into people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Despite its name, conversion therapy is not legitimate therapy—it is a pseudoscientific practice based on the false premise that LGBTQ+ identities are mental disorders that can and should be "cured."

This harmful practice takes many forms, from talk therapy sessions to more extreme interventions, but all share the same dangerous foundation: the belief that being LGBTQ+ is something that needs to be fixed.

The Devastating Truth: Why Conversion Therapy Is Dangerous

The evidence is overwhelming and heartbreaking: conversion therapy does not work, and it causes profound harm.

Research has consistently shown that this practice:

  • Significantly increases suicide risk: LGBTQ+ individuals who have undergone conversion therapy are almost twice as likely to think about suicide and attempt suicide compared to their peers who haven't been subjected to this practice

  • Causes severe mental health problems: Victims experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress

  • Leads to physical health complications: Studies have documented increased rates of high blood pressure and other stress-related conditions

  • Damages family relationships: Children subjected to conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to run away from home

  • Creates lasting trauma: The shame, stigma, and rejection inherent in these practices can cause psychological damage that persists for years

A 2019 study by the Williams Institute found that approximately 698,000 LGBTQ+ adults in the United States had undergone conversion therapy at some point in their lives, with about 350,000 receiving this harmful treatment as adolescents. Despite state bans, a 2023 report from The Trevor Project identified more than 1,300 conversion therapy practitioners still operating in 48 states.

Every Major Medical Organization Says No

The medical and mental health communities have spoken with one voice: conversion therapy is harmful, unethical, and has no place in professional practice. Organizations that have condemned the practice include:

  • American Medical Association

  • American Psychological Association (rejected it in 2009)

  • American Psychiatric Association (banned it in 1998)

  • American Academy of Pediatrics

  • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

  • American College of Physicians

  • American Counseling Association

These organizations recognize what the evidence clearly shows: sexual orientation and gender identity are not illnesses and attempts to change them cause harm rather than healing.

The Legal Landscape: Progress and Setbacks

The History of Bans

The movement to protect young people from conversion therapy began gaining momentum in 2012, when California became the first state to ban licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors. Then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the historic legislation, declaring that the ban would target "non-scientific 'therapies' that have driven young people to depression and suicide."

New Jersey followed in 2013, and the movement spread. By 2020, Utah became the 19th state to enact a ban, in a particularly significant victory given the state's conservative lean and the support from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Current Status

As of 2025, 27 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and more than 100 municipalities have enacted laws prohibiting or restricting licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors. These bans represent a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights, protecting a majority of the U.S. population.

However, the fight is far from over. Four states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Indiana—have laws or court rulings that actually prohibit or deter local-level protections against conversion therapy. And despite these bans, practitioners continue to operate, often through religious organizations that fall outside the scope of many state laws.

The Supreme Court Case That Could Change Everything

On October 7, 2025, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that could have devastating implications for LGBTQ+ youth protection across the nation.

The Case

The case centers on Colorado's 2019 law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals from providing conversion therapy to minors. Kaley Chiles, an evangelical Christian therapist represented by the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that the ban violates her First Amendment right to free speech. She claims she wants to help teenagers who wish to "reduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with one's physical body."

Colorado's Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson countered that the state has the authority and responsibility to regulate healthcare practices that are harmful and ineffective. She emphasized the "mountain of evidence" showing that conversion therapy doesn't work and causes significant harm to young people, including elevated suicide risk.

What's at Stake

Based on the October 7 oral arguments, the Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared skeptical of Colorado's ban, with several justices expressing concern about free speech implications. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito characterized the law as "blatant viewpoint discrimination," while Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on the argument that the law only regulates conduct rather than speech.

A ruling against Colorado could:

  • Invalidate similar laws in more than 20 states

  • Leave hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ youth vulnerable to this harmful practice

  • Undermine states' ability to regulate other healthcare practices deemed unsafe or ineffective

  • Send a message that professionals can engage in discredited, harmful practices if they frame them as "speech"

The Court's decision, expected by June 2026, will determine whether states can continue to protect vulnerable young people from a practice that every major medical organization has condemned.

Why This Matters: A Moral Imperative

As someone who believes deeply in protecting the wellbeing of all young people...all people, I must state this clearly: conversion therapy is abuse, and it should never be allowed.

It is fundamentally unethical for any therapist to provide conversion therapy. The practice violates the most basic principles of healthcare: first, do no harm. When we know that a practice increases suicide risk, causes depression and anxiety, and damages the parent-child relationship, continuing to allow it is not a matter of free speech—it's a matter of protecting children from harm.

No child should be told that who they are is wrong, broken, or in need of fixing. No teenager questioning their identity should be subjected to practices that medical experts universally condemn. No family should be torn apart by interventions that research shows are not only ineffective but actively harmful.

To the Survivors: You Are Seen

To everyone who has survived conversion therapy: I see you. Your pain is valid. What happened to you was wrong.

You deserved—and still deserve—acceptance, support, and affirming care. The harm that was done to you was not your fault. The shame they tried to instill in you does not belong to you. Your identity is not something that needs to be changed or fixed.

Organizations like The Trevor Project, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, and Born Perfect provide support and resources for survivors. You are not alone, and healing is possible.

If you're an LGBTQ+ young person in crisis, please reach out:

  • Trevor Project Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386

  • Crisis Text Line: Text "START" to 678-678

  • Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860

Our Obligation as a Society and as Professionals

We have an obligation as a society to protect people from harm. This is not a debatable point—it is a fundamental responsibility we owe to the most vulnerable among us, especially our children.

There is no question: conversion therapy is abuse. When I use the word "abuse," I mean it in its fullest sense. This is not hyperbole or advocacy language—it is a clinical and ethical reality.

To Families: A Difficult Truth

When parents or guardians send their children to conversion therapy, they are participating in abuse. I understand this is difficult to hear, particularly for families who may believe they are acting out of love or religious conviction. But intent does not negate harm. When you send a child to a practice that medical science has proven increases suicide risk, causes depression and anxiety, and inflicts lasting psychological trauma, you are subjecting that child to abuse—regardless of your motivation.

Families are vulnerable. They may be manipulated by practitioners who promise false hope or prey on their fears. They may be told that they are "helping" or "saving" their child. But the evidence is clear: they are harming their child. Every parent who considers conversion therapy must understand this truth.

To My Fellow Therapists: A Professional Crisis

As a psychotherapist, I find it horrific that fellow therapists would participate in such abuse. We, as mental health professionals, take an oath to do no harm. We have a fundamental obligation to protect our patients, to advocate for their wellbeing, and to provide care based on scientific evidence and ethical principles.

More than that: we have a mandatory obligation to report abuse when we see it.

This creates a profound ethical contradiction. How can a therapist participate in conversion therapy—which IS abuse—with their patient? The answer is simple: they cannot. Not ethically. Not professionally. Not morally.

If we would report a parent for subjecting their child to physical abuse, emotional abuse, or medical neglect, how can we turn a blind eye to—or worse, actively participate in—a practice that increases suicide risk and causes documented psychological harm? If another therapist told us they were using a technique that doubled their adolescent client's risk of suicide attempt, we would be obligated to intervene. Yet that is precisely what conversion therapy does.

The therapist who practices conversion therapy is not providing treatment. They are inflicting harm. They are violating every principle of our profession. They are betraying the trust placed in them by vulnerable young people and their families.

Our Collective Responsibility

We have an obligation to protect our youth, our adults, and our patients. This obligation extends beyond individual practitioners to our entire society:

  • Healthcare systems must refuse to credential or reimburse practitioners who engage in conversion therapy

  • Professional licensing boards must enforce ethical standards and discipline therapists who practice conversion therapy

  • Insurance companies must not cover this harmful practice

  • Faith communities must recognize that true compassion means affirming LGBTQ+ identities, not attempting to change them

  • Schools and community organizations must educate families about the harms of conversion therapy

  • Legislators and courts must maintain legal protections for vulnerable young people

The question before the Supreme Court is not really about free speech. It is about whether we, as a society, will continue to protect children from a practice that every reputable medical organization has condemned as harmful and ineffective.

The Path Forward

As we await the Supreme Court's decision, the work continues. We must:

  • Support survivors with compassion, resources, and validation

  • Educate communities about the harms of conversion therapy

  • Advocate for federal legislation to protect LGBTQ+ youth nationwide

  • Hold accountable those who continue to practice this harmful intervention

  • Amplify the voices of survivors who have the courage to share their stories

  • Stand firm in the truth that LGBTQ+ identities are not disorders and conversion therapy is abuse

  • Enforce professional standards that make it clear: participating in conversion therapy is professional misconduct

The science is clear. The medical consensus is unanimous. The harm is documented. The moral imperative is undeniable.

Our young people...all people...deserve better. They deserve to be affirmed, supported, and loved for exactly who they are. The fight to protect them from conversion therapy is a fight for their lives, their dignity, and their future.

If you or someone you know has been affected by conversion therapy, support is available. You deserve healing, acceptance, and hope.

 

DISCLAIMER:

 

The contents of this website; blog, video, articles, media, social media, book, and references, are ONLY for informational and entertainment purposes. It is NOT intended as a psychological service, diagnostic tool, medical treatment, personal advice, counseling, or determination of risk and should not be used as a substitute for treatment by psychological or medical services. 

Please seek consultation by an appropriate healthcare provider.

Call 911 if there is an emergency.

Call or text 988, which is the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline,

Call National Suicidal Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 to talk to someone 24/7 if needed. Call National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to talk to someone 24/7 if needed.

Looking at, reading, listening to any information on my website, social media, YouTube, or book, and communicating with me by email or any other communication with me, you acknowledge and agree that we do not have a professional/client relationship. Use of this site and information associated with this site is solely at the visitor’s own risk.

 

References

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (n.d.). Conversion therapy. Retrieved from https://www.aacap.org

Howe, A. (2025, October 7). Majority of court appears skeptical of Colorado's "conversion therapy" ban. SCOTUSblog. https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/10/majority-of-court-appears-skeptical-of-colorados-conversion-therapy-ban/

Kruzel, J. (2025, October 7). US Supreme Court to examine Colorado's gay 'conversion therapy' ban. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-10-07/us-supreme-court-to-examine-colorados-gay-conversion-therapy-ban

Movement Advancement Project. (2025). Conversion "therapy" laws. https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/conversion_therapy

Movement Advancement Project. (2025). LGBTQ policy spotlight report: Laws protecting LGBTQ youth from conversion "therapy". https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/conversion_therapy

NPR. (2025, October 7). Supreme Court seems highly doubtful of limits on conversion therapy for minors. https://www.npr.org/2025/10/07/nx-s1-5563987/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-colorado

Pick, C. (2023). The Trevor Project report on conversion therapy practitioners in the United States. The Trevor Project.

Totenberg, N. (2025, October 7). Supreme Court skeptical of state bans on conversion therapy aimed at LGBTQ kids. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-weighs-challenge-bans-conversion-therapy-aimed-lgbtq-kid-rcna235192

U.S. House of Representatives, Representative Ted Lieu. (2020, January 24). Before Utah, these are the states that banned conversion therapy. https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/utah-these-are-states-banned-conversion-therapy

Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. (2019). LGBT people who have undergone conversion therapy. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/conversion-therapy-and-lgbt-youth/

Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. (2020). Conversion therapy and suicide attempts among transgender and gender diverse youth. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/conversion-therapy-and-lgbt-youth/

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, October 4). List of U.S. jurisdictions banning conversion therapy. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._jurisdictions_banning_conversion_therapy

Zraick, K. (2023, December 12). Conversion therapy still happens in almost every U.S. state. TIME. https://time.com/6344824/how-common-is-conversion-therapy-united-states/

About Crisis Resources:

  • Trevor Project Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386 (24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth)

  • Trevor Project Text: Text START to 678-678

  • Trevor Project Chat: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

  • Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860

  • The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988

Next
Next

Healing After a Narcissistic Relationship: A Compassionate Guide to Recovery