Supreme Court’s ‘Conversion Therapy’ Case Revs Up Speech Debate

The US Supreme Court’s decision to hear a Colorado therapist’s suit over a state law barring her from counseling minor patients about their sexual orientation or gender identity has the potential for far-reaching effects on professional speech, scholars say.

The case is “part of a broader effort to use the First Amendment to strike down LGBTQ+ rights,” but could lead to the collapse of anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws if the justices extend their ruling beyond that context, said Scott Skinner-Thompson, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder.

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