https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tk_n_69d02206e4b05047ac8e8910
"Supreme Court Clears Path For Extremely Dangerous Practice — And Now More Young People Will Die"
“The treatment does medical harm — First Amendment rights are not the issue here."
By
Melissa Garner Lee
Apr 5, 2026, 08:13 AM EDT
In the spring of 2015, on a sunny California day, I sat chatting with my nephew, Isaiah.
“My therapist said faith can straighten what nature bent,” he leaned in and told me.
We collapsed into laughter. Although conversion therapy isn’t funny, we were making the best of a desperate situation. As a trauma therapist, I found his treatment in the therapy room deeply troubling.
This week, the United States Supreme Court struck down a Colorado state law barring the practice of conversion therapy. In an 8–1 decision, the justices found that these bans violated the First Amendment. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, reading, “it threatens to impair States’ ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect.” The treatment does medical harm — First Amendment rights are not the issue here.
Conversion therapy attempts to change a client’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. It tries to make LGBTQ+ individuals heterosexual or cisgender. It is a fraudulent practice that does not work, and what’s more, it is capable of doing profound — even deadly — harm.
As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I have witnessed firsthand the deep damage this type of therapy inflicts, including clients who experience trauma, shame, depression and suicidality because of it. I had advised against it for my nephew and explained that this supposed “cure” for homosexuality is considered abusive and unacceptable in the professional community, as it threatens the lives of countless LGBTQ+ youth.
Major medical organizations, among them the American Psychological Association, declared “sexual orientation change efforts” harmful. The practice is rejected by every major medical and mental health organization because it has been proven to cause measurable psychological damage.
Experts agree that the approach is an extremely dangerous practice, and it was abandoned by the American Medical Association in 1994. A 2020 report by the Williams Institute found that “LGB people who have undergone conversion therapy [are] almost twice as likely to attempt suicide” as those who have not. This is on top of the already alarming rates of attempted suicide (12% ) or suicidal ideation (39% ) that LGBTQ+ youth said they experience.
My fears proved well-founded. The treatment scarred Isaiah, and when he recently came to me and shared what he had endured, he told me, “It was so scary. They didn’t allow parents. I had to go in there alone and sit in front of a man I didn’t know.” He added, “his questions came rapid fire and full of judgment. I don’t remember all the details.”
I wasn’t surprised when he apologized for not remembering. Isolation and disassociation are common side effects of conversion therapy. When a child endures a distressing experience, the brain and nervous system respond by pulling away from the self. The body’s fight or flight system creates a numbing distance from thoughts and feelings as a way to survive the pain.
While he has experienced memory gaps, Isaiah does recall important sobering truths. He remembers the therapist sitting across from him and asking, “Do you have thoughts of a sexual nature toward men?” Isaiah was confused about how to answer. Should he tell the truth or lie? When he told the truth, his “homework” was punishing, and the shame spiral was intense. When he began to lie, the pressure let up and so did the homework. He quickly learned to lie.
“The therapist tried to ‘fix me’ and make me ‘normal,’” Isaiah explained. “For example, he said I was ‘sitting too girly’ — not ‘manly’ enough.” This created a core wound for him. Being told that the way you sit is defective may sound trivial to some people, but it strikes at something profound. It told him that his most natural, unguarded self is somehow inherently wrong — not what he did but simply how he exists in a moment of rest. That is a violation of a client who is in a vulnerable position. It goes against everything therapy strives to be.
As therapists, our training requires us to do no harm and the majority of therapists consider conversion therapy to be destructive — both psychologically and emotionally. The basis of conversion therapy is that homosexuality is a sin, and it’s the therapist’s job to convert the child and make them “normal.” It’s akin to telling a person they are fundamentally broken and need to be fixed, or that they have a disease when no disease exists.
Like many children forced to undergo this kind of “treatment,” when the interventions did not work, Isaiah internalized the failure.
“It made me feel bad about who I am,” he explained, admitting that the shame ruined his ability to have healthy relationships. Trust became a big issue. “It will always be something I’m working on.”
“It affected my identity,” he added. “I wanted to come out sooner, but I was scared. It stifled my growth. Their biggest tool is shame. I became ashamed of who I was.”
The choice to place Isaiah in conversion therapy came at a steep price. The words caught in his throat when he told me that suicide was a real consideration at that time. Dark thoughts crept in during quiet moments.
From the outset, the odds were stacked against Isaiah. In the small Christian community he called home, he was already feeling isolated and alone. Isaiah ended up in a deep depression as he repressed his sexuality and hid his young life from view. He experienced overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and sadness at an age that’s already difficult for almost every young person.
“Conversion therapy tried to change me,” Isaiah told me. Indeed, my sweet, happy, talented nephew did change, but it was not in the way his church had hoped. Instead of becoming “straight,” he learned to lie and keep secrets. He realized the only way out of the treatment was to say, “I’m healed. I don’t have those thoughts anymore.” And that’s how he got out of it. He receded deeper into the closet, pretending to be the way they wanted him to be, and he didn’t come out until years later.
The following year, Isaiah found drama club and acting and starred in every play his performance troupe put on for the entirety of high school. He then went on to a renowned drama conservatory.
“College was a transformative moment for me,” he revealed. “I saw gay men living openly, and I think it clicked something in my brain and changed everything. This is what it feels like to be free of the shame that’s holding me back.”
As a result of that acceptance from the LGBTQ+ community, he found the courage to come out at 19, but the psychological damage he’d suffered didn’t fade.
“Truly, I don’t think I will ever be over it,” he said. “You know it’s always gonna be something where I’m working to be better — to deconstruct all that stuff.”
Despite the scars, Isaiah now lives in New York City, where he’s enjoying “his best gay life” running a high-end interior architecture gallery.
“People need to know that conversion therapy is not helpful for anyone,” he explained. “They need to be educated about how terrible it is.”
This ban was extremely important because it protected a vulnerable population from coercion disguised as treatment. Now, with the Supreme Court’s ruling, countless young LGBTQ+ kids could be at risk and some will choose to end their lives after experiencing the torture of conversion therapy. Their blood will be on the hands of these justices.
Looking back, I realize now my nephew was lucky to have survived such a traumatic experience. As both a therapist and a mother figure in his life, I’m grateful he’s still with us. When I asked Isaiah what he wanted people to understand about conversion therapy, he said, “It’s the most damaging thing you can do to a young person. You’re abusing them. It’s mental abuse.”
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If you are in crisis, here are a few resources that could help: (in America)
The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people, providing information and support 24/7, 365 days a year.
988 Lifeline: Call, text, or chat with the 988 Lifeline for 24/7, free, and confidential support in a crisis.
911: If a youth is in immediate danger, call 911 and inform the operator that it is a mental health emergency. You can request a Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT) officer in your state.
@shavixmir saidConversion therapy is dumb. Dumber still is chopping off someone's wang and telling him he's a girl. Talk about medical harm.
Conversion therapy.
Says enough really.
Religious folk should leave judging up to God… who the hell do they think they are to think they’re able to interpret the omnipresentness of the Lord?
Judge not, lest thy be judged, eh!
@Suzianne saidJust what one would expect from an ignorant and corrupt SCOTUS
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tk_n_69d02206e4b05047ac8e8910
"Supreme Court Clears Path For Extremely Dangerous Practice — And Now More Young People Will Die"
“The treatment does medical harm — First Amendment rights are not the issue here."
By
Melissa Garner Lee
Apr 5, 2026, 08:13 AM EDT
In the spring of 2015, on a sunny California day, I sat ch ...[text shortened]... mental health emergency. You can request a Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT) officer in your state.
@caissad4 saidAgreed, but I expected a 6-3 ruling.
Just what one would expect from an ignorant and corrupt SCOTUS
This is the somewhat disappointing part.
The ruling was 8-1.
The only dissent was from Ketanji Brown Jackson. I figured Kagan and Sotomayor would dissent also. I just can't scry what they're thinking anymore.
@Sleepyguy saidGenerally, the person in question feels he’s a girl, and after years of therapy, he still wants his wang removed. And so they finallydo so.
Conversion therapy is dumb. Dumber still is chopping off someone's wang and telling him he's a girl. Talk about medical harm.
It’s not done on a whim, or because some doctor had some sort of an issue.
And I personally think it’s adjusting reality to fit a mental problem, but I ain’t the expert.
@Suzianne saidWhat they're thinking is that this is a textbook case of viewpoint discrimination.
Agreed, but I expected a 6-3 ruling.
This is the somewhat disappointing part.
The ruling was 8-1.
The only dissent was from Ketanji Brown Jackson. I figured Kagan and Sotomayor would dissent also. I just can't scry what they're thinking anymore.
“Instead of barring talk therapy designed to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, this law bars therapy affirming those things,” Kagan wrote in a concurrence. “[T]he First Amendment would apply in the identical way. Once again, because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward.”
(from the HuffPo article)
In cases of viewpoint discrimination, an anti-speech law can only be allowed if is passes strict scrutiny. The lower court didn't apply strict scrutiny, so the Supreme Court remanded it to tell the lower courts to apply strict scrutiny.
This is practically an open and shut case. The Supreme Court's job is not to decide whether conversion therapy is a good idea or even (at this point) to judge whether limitations on conversion therapy are a good idea. The Supreme Court's job in this case was simply to decide whether this sort of viewpoint discrimination should be subjected to strict scrutiny, like all other laws that engage in viewpoint discrimination.
Even Justice Jackson's dissent didn't deny this.
Instead, she wrote:
"Stated simply, the majority has failed to appreciate the crucial context in which Chiles’s constitutional claims have arisen. Chiles is not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed healthcare professional."
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-539_fd9g.pdf
In essence, Jackson's dissent was "This stuff is really bad, so let's not protect it with the First Amendment."
It's textbook judicial activism.
@Suzianne -
"It is a fraudulent practice that does not work, and what’s more, it is capable of doing profound — even deadly — harm"
Is the quote about:
A) a LGBTQ convert trying to go back, after realizing conversion was a mistake,
B) a boy who wants to remove his testicles and penis, in order to change genders
"Only her hairdresser knows for sure"
.
"It is a fraudulent practice that does not work..."
We know from the article, of course, that which this phrase describes, reversing the gender conversion.
But trying to convert a boy to a girl by chopping off the male genitalia IS A PRACTICE THAT DOES NOT WORK
Anyone who thinks that such a person is a female should have their head examined.
And If you tell me that gender is all mental, then WHY CHOP off THE BOY'S GENITALIA?
talk about fraudulent, b'jeeezus.
I have no idea why the posters in this thread cannot see a distinction between gender-affirming surgery and talk therapy designed to actually convert an LGBTQ+ person from gay to straight. THAT is what Colorado's ban was against, fraudulent "conversion therapy". This kind of therapy results in these people committing suicide in increasing numbers. It is not safe, it is not medicine and the court should have supported this ban.
This conversation has NOTHING to do with any "trans" ANYthing. This is about fraudulent "conversion therapy" to convert people from gay to straight. This does not work and has been decried as actually damaging to these youths. This is not a First Amendment issue.
If your doctor told you that diabetes was caused by a parasite and all you needed was risky, unnecessary "surgery" (that will do nothing to "fix" a problem that doesn't exist), you would call him a quack and demand that the AMA yank that clown's medical license. It's not his "Constitutionally allowed, free speech opinion". It is a clear danger to anyone he prescribes this for, whether his "religion" insists he make people take the surgery or not.
Children are actually dying because of these traumatic, highly psychologically damaging "conversion therapies". This is NOT a "First Amendment" issue. This has NOTHING to do with "opinion". NO psychologist who actually holds a license should be promoting this, and in fact, the VAST majority of APA certified psychologists know how incredibly damaging this supposed "therapy" actually is.
Religious "opinion" has NO place in modern medicine.
@Earl-of-Trumps saidNo, and No.
@Suzianne -
"It is a fraudulent practice that does not work, and what’s more, it is capable of doing profound — even deadly — harm"
Is the quote about:
A) a LGBTQ convert trying to go back, after realizing conversion was a mistake,
B) a boy who wants to remove his testicles and penis, in order to change genders
"Only her hairdresser knows for sure"
What this is about is the Supreme Court overturning a ban on so-called "conversion therapy".
It has NOTHING to do with "trans" ANYthing.
It is about forcing someone who is gay to "become straight". THIS DOES NOT WORK, and is incredibly damaging to the psyche of these youths who are already having difficulty figuring out their place in society as it is. This "therapy" SHOULD be banned in all 50 states. It is outrageously deleterious to the youths who are forced (because of the parents' "religious views" ) to undergo this abuse. This is killing our children. If this were an actual "moral" society, it would be banned, without question.