Groups advocating for the LGBTQ+ community are slamming a March 30 Supreme Court decision overturning a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors.

Justice Neil Gorsuch argued for the majority the bill violated therapists’ First Amendment free speech rights.

Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for the group Equality California, said conversion therapy, which tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, hurts patients by fostering self-loathing.

"Every major medical and mental health organization continues to condemn conversion therapy because of its harmfulness," Salinas pointed out. "It creates depression, anxiety, and suicide."

Currently, 20 states, including California, ban conversion therapy for minors. The Supreme Court decision does not lift those bans immediately but makes them vulnerable to legal challenges. Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson argued in her dissent states should be able to regulate professional conduct in the medical field without running afoul of the First Amendment.

Angela Dallara, director of rapid response and campaigns for the advocacy group GLAAD, said we need to prioritize people’s right to effective, science-based medical care.

"We must amplify the voices of survivors and continue to hold liable anyone who peddles in this junk science," Dallara argued. "Conversion practices are also very much a form of medical malpractice and consumer fraud, because they don't work."

In California, adults can sue for medical malpractice if they believe they have been harmed by conversion therapy. A new bill in the state legislature, Senate Bill 934, would make it easier to sue and extends the time limit for filing a suit.

Source: Public News Service