The Supreme Court on Monday announced that it would hear an attempt to overturn Colorado’s ban of conversion therapy for minors.
Conversion therapy attempts to change LGBT patients’ gender identity or orientation, and leading medical organizations have long criticized the discredited practice as deeply harmful, especially for young people. Dozens of states and Washington D.C. have similar bans.
The Court brushed up against state conversion therapy bans as recently as 2023. Then, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh said they would have taken up the case, Thomas and Alito arguing that the law infringes on speech rights. That group has now found at least its fourth, as it takes the votes of four justices to hear a case. That shift, in this climate, is ominous.
The case was brought by Kaley Chiles, a professional counselor, backed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a now infamous right-wing law firm that has pushed many major culture war cases at the Supreme Court. Chiles claims that the ban infringes on her freedom of speech as a Christian who “believes clients can accept the bodies that God has given them and find peace.” The right-wing Supreme Court majority has often acted aggressively in defense of supposed Christian persecution.
Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser (D) called conversion therapy “unsafe and ineffective,” and defended the state’s right to protect patients from substandard treatment.
Adding a layer of irony, the right has waged constant battle in recent years against gender affirming care for minors under the auspices of protecting them from activist and ideological health care providers.
This case is a clear outgrowth of the greater anti-trans movement, though; in Chiles’ brief, her lawyers bemoan that conversion therapy bans leave “detransitioners — those who adopted a transgender identity but now identify with their biological sex — with no counseling support whatsoever in much of the United States.” While detransitioning is rare, right-wing media often highlights these individuals as “proof” of the harm of gender affirming care.
That it only took a year and a half for Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh to recruit at least one other justice to their side speaks to the pitch of the anti-trans movement, particularly after Donald Trump’s reelection on a platform that was particularly fixated on rolling back protections for trans youth.
The Best Of TPM Today
5 Points On The Funding Bill Johnson And Trump Want To Squeeze Through The House
Senior Ranks Of DOJ Hit With New Wave Of Trump Purges
Will Dems Pick Up Their Sword?
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Exclusive: Trump Makes Aggressive New Claim of Executive Power To Circumvent The Senate
What We Are Reading
Aftershocks of Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling Echo in New Trump Cases — Adam Liptak, The New York Times
Top ‘Washington Post’ columnist resigns, accusing publisher of killing piece — David Folkenflik, NPR
US Supreme Court nixes challenge to state climate suits against oil firms — Nate Raymond, Reuters
The last time I checked, not a single Supreme Court justice holds a medical degree of any kind.
Nor are they licensed psychologists, psychiatrists, or counselors.
Well, how many more days of 900 point losses on the Dow will it take for the money branch of the GOP to admit that they all voted for “fucking moron” as per Rex Tillerson ?? I hate to tell you, you genius money men, but it’s been apparent for some long time that Trump is a “fake businessman” who has never earned a dime on anything but grift.
Trump is, in fact, a disaster for the economy and the country. NOTHING will get better until Trump leaves office. NOTHING.
Percentage of LGBTQ youth in the U.S. with experience with conversion therapy who attempted suicide within the past 12 months as of 2023
This graph is interactive on the page.
New Study Finds Conversion Therapy, and its Associated Harms, Cost the U.S. an Estimated $9.23 Billion Annually
This is the first known study to apply a comprehensive model to assess the socioeconomic impacts of conversion therapy.
Proctology Hobbyists only…
Always pulling things out of their ass…
Pretty good for amateurs, i’ll give them that