Chiles v. Salazar:
A Parent's Guide
UPDATED 4/1/2026
On March 31, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in *Chiles v. Salazar* that Colorado's law banning conversion therapy for minors, as applied to talk therapy, violates the First Amendment.
The ruling does not strike down Colorado's law entirely, and it does not declare conversion therapy safe or effective. But it weakens the ability of states to hold licensed practitioners accountable when they subject children to a practice that every major medical association in the country has condemned.
More than 23 states have similar laws on the books. Each one is now vulnerable to legal challenge.
We created this page because families deserve to understand what this ruling actually means, what it doesn't mean, and what options remain.
Below, you'll find a plain-language breakdown of the Court's decision, answers to the most common questions we're hearing from parents, and the key facts every family should know about parental authority, the fraud behind these practices, the damage they do to families, what the medical research says, and the legal path forward.
What the Chiles v. Salazar Case Was Really About
Think of it like a guardrail. Colorado put a rule on licensed mental-health providers: You can’t take a child into counseling with the goal of “making them straight” or “changing who they are.” Why? Simply, because therapy doesn't work that way and it puts kids at risk.
What is allowed? All the supportive things good therapists do, listening, helping with stress, strengthening family communication, and honoring a young person’s dignity.
As this rule was struck down by the Supreme Court, it opened the door for those practices to come back under a “therapy” label.
Truths That Don't Change Post-Chiles Ruling
Families, not strangers behind closed doors, know what's best for their children.
This ruling does not change a single fact about conversion therapy. It remains a discredited practice that every mainstream medical organization in the United States has condemned. What it changes is the ability of states to keep licensed professionals accountable when they subject children to these methods.
Parents who love their children should be alarmed, not reassured, by a ruling that makes it harder for states to enforce basic standards of care for minors. Laws like Colorado's existed because families demanded protection from practitioners who exploit fear and confusion for profit.
Martha Conley, a parent who filed testimony with the Supreme Court, said it plainly: "As parents, we're vulnerable when we're told our child can be 'fixed.' We want to believe there's a way to make their path easier. Laws like Colorado's protect us from being misled by those who would profit from our fear and love." (NCLR Amicus Brief, pg. 15–16)
The question was never whether children should explore their identity. It was whether a licensed professional should have free rein to mold the mind of a child behind closed doors, under the protection of confidentiality, without accountability to proven standards of care.
Sean Madden, a parent and advocate, warned about the broader implications: "When you start rolling those rights back, where do you stop? If governments are allowed to intrude on the special relationship between parents and their children, every parent should be concerned." But so should every parent when the guardrails that protect children from harmful practitioners are removed. (Video Testimonial)
Conversion therapy is a proven fraud practiced by fringe actors who profit from parents' fear.
A New Jersey jury in Ferguson v. JONAH found that a prominent conversion therapy organization engaged in unconscionable consumer fraud. The presiding judge stated that the premise of homosexuality as a disorder "is outdated and refuted" and compared it to believing the earth is flat. The organization was shut down and ordered to pay damages.
The estimated total annual economic burden of conversion therapy on young people in the United States, accounting for the practice itself plus associated harms like substance abuse and suicidal behavior, reaches $9.23 billion, according to JAMA Pediatrics. The lifetime cost per individual subjected to these practices: an estimated $97,985 in additional health care costs, with 1.61 quality-adjusted life years lost.
Paulette Trimmer, whose son Adam attended multiple conversion therapy programs, told the Supreme Court: "When he wanted to go to a third program, we finally put our foot down. I said, 'No. I don't know what they're teaching you, but it's killing our relationship with you.'" Each program cost the family thousands of dollars. (NCLR Amicus Brief, pg. 17–18)
Removing state-level legal protections means the remaining options for families who've been scammed are limited to expensive, drawn-out malpractice lawsuits, or doing nothing at all. Don't let someone cash in on your child's identity.
True therapy strengthens families; conversion therapy destroys them.
Robert Cottrell testified before the Supreme Court that when parents send children to conversion therapy, it "shatters their core belief in family itself. The very words 'father' and 'mother' can become triggers for tremendous pain." Family relationships "often never heal or take decades to recover." (NCLR Amicus Brief, pg. 21)
Adam Trimmer, a conversion therapy survivor, eventually quit and rebuilt his relationship with his mother: "Today, my mom and I have a restored relationship that conversion therapy tried to take away from us. And it has been powerful to reconnect with her." But not every family gets that chance. As his mother Paulette told the Court: "These programs don't change who your child is; they change how your child sees you. And that damage can take years to undo." (CBS News Feature; NCLR Brief, pg. 18–19)
Joyce Calvo, whose daughter Alana was subjected to these practices, told the Court: "I cry out to God every day, not only for the loss of Alana, but for the destruction that conversion therapy causes to the most sacred of relationships: the relationship between a child and their parents, between a child and God, and between a child and herself." (NCLR Brief, pg. 14–15)
A commonly used tactic among conversion practitioners is to blame parents: "dad is effeminate" or "mom doesn't dress like most moms do, no wonder you're confused." These methods don't bring families closer. They drive wedges between parents and children that can last decades.
Linda Robertson wrote about the devastating impact on her family: "We had taught Ryan to hate himself. So as he began to use drugs, he did so with recklessness and a lack of caution for his own safety that was alarming to everyone who knew him." Her family later embraced their son unconditionally: "Over the next ten months, we learned to truly love our son. Period. No buts. No conditions. Just because he breathes." (JustBecauseHeBreathes.com)
The medical evidence is not ambiguous. These practices cause harm.
A 2022 task force report published in the journal *Behavior Therapy* found that conversion therapy has been "discredited by decades of scientific research as ineffective and harmful" and that exposure is associated with more than double the likelihood of attempting suicide.
Dr. Caitlin Ryan's research through the Family Acceptance Project found that young people subjected to parental efforts to change their orientation had a 48% attempted-suicide rate, compared to 22% among peers with no conversion attempts. When both parent-initiated and therapist-led conversion efforts were combined, that rate climbed to 63%.
The U.S. SAMHSA concluded in its 2023 report: "No available research supports the claim that SOGI change efforts are beneficial to children, adolescents, or families." The report also addressed why randomized controlled trials haven't been conducted: it would be unethical to subject children to a practice already known to cause harm simply to meet that research standard.
Dr. Judith Glassgold, who led the American Psychological Association's landmark 2009 task force on the subject, testified that "multiple research studies have found that conversion therapy is ineffective and poses significant harms to individuals of all ages, including behavioral treatments and psychological treatments delivered through words." (Declaration, Catholic Charities v. Whitmer)
You can't talk someone out of being transgender any more than you can talk someone out of being gay. And laws that protect children from practitioners who claim otherwise aren't censoring speech; they're enforcing a basic standard of care.
This fight isn't over. Parents and advocates have options.
The ruling is narrow: it requires strict scrutiny for laws like Colorado's, but does not declare conversion therapy bans categorically unconstitutional. Justice Kagan's concurrence suggests that states may be able to craft viewpoint-neutral versions of these laws that would raise a harder constitutional question, one the Court explicitly left open.
•Malpractice remains viable. Families harmed by conversion therapy practitioners can still pursue legal action. The Ferguson v. JONAH verdict demonstrated that courts will treat these practices as consumer fraud when the evidence of deception is clear.
A majority of Americans (56%) already believe conversion therapy should be illegal for minors, according to 2025 polling. Since 2012, Republican legislators have supported conversion therapy bans more than 1,000 times across state legislatures. This is not a partisan issue; it is a child safety issue.
State legislatures in the 23+ states with existing bans can begin working with legal counsel to evaluate how their laws can be revised to withstand scrutiny under the framework the Court established. The door to legislative protection is not closed; it requires more careful drafting.
The stories of families harmed by conversion therapy (the Trimmers, the Robertsons, the Calvos, the Cottrells) are the most powerful evidence that exists. No court ruling can erase what these families lived through, and their voices remain central to the movement to protect children from these discredited practices.
What Parents Ask Most
A Simple Plan for Right Now
Lead with love. Say the quiet part out loud: “I’m here for you.”
Choose licensed, supportive care. Ask providers directly, “Do you try to change kids, or support them as they are?”
Watch the language. “Fixing,” “correcting,” or any shame-based talk is a red flag.
Keep faith in the room. Pray together. Ask questions together. Your love is the safest place.
