Wire
Colorado counselors can still criticize the therapy ban
The Tenth Circuit said licensed counselors may criticize Colorado’s conversion-therapy rule and refer minor clients elsewhere. The state can still enforce the ban on conversion therapy for minors inside its regulated mental-health system.
A licensed Colorado counselor can still tell clients the state is wrong, and can still point minors to outside providers, after the Tenth Circuit drew a line between protected speech and prohibited conversion therapy. The court said Colorado may keep barring the therapy itself for minors, even as it cannot silence criticism of the rule.
Conversion therapy means counseling aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The ruling leaves that treatment off-limits inside Colorado’s regulated mental-health system, but keeps room for counselors to talk about the law and object to it.
What stays off-limits
Kaley Chiles, the licensed counselor at the center of the case, did not win permission to deliver conversion therapy to minors. Colorado can keep enforcing its ban where practitioners are covered by the licensing law.
That means the state still gets to police the treatment itself when it is offered to minor clients by licensed mental-health professionals. What the court protected was speech about the ban, not the banned practice.
Where referrals remain possible
The opinion also says Chiles may refer minor clients to service providers outside the regulatory ambit who can legally try to change sexual orientation or gender identity. For families, that leaves the conversation open even though the therapy remains barred in the regulated system.
The court also pointed to Colorado’s exemption for people engaged in religious ministry from the Mental Health Practice Act, a reminder that the state already draws different lines for different providers.