US supreme court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’

Court in 8-1 decision sides with Christian counselor who argues law banning the practice violates first amendment The US supreme court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ children in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice. An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argued the law banning “conversion therapy” violates the first amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass. Neil Gorsuch, the justice writing for the court, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint”. The first amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country”. Gorsuch’s opinion drew support from the liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.A state could similarly not ban talk therapy designed to affirm a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Kagan wrote. “Once again, because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,” she wrot