Strikes Down Colorado’s Counseling Censorship Law Restricting Speech

Washington, DC - April 1, 2026

On March 31, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered an 8-1 decision in Chiles v. Salazar (24-539). Justice Neil M. Gorsuch delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Justice Kagan filed the concurring opinion in which Sotomayor joined. Judge Jackson filed the dissenting opinion. 

Dr. Simone Gold and the AFLDS legal team filed two amici curiae briefs with the Supreme Court in support of Petitioner Kaley Chiles, who sued the Respondents over Colorado’s “Counseling Censorship Law.” This law violated her free speech rights by prohibiting licensed counselors from engaging in any conversation with minor patients that does not steer them in the direction of “gender-affirming care.” Last year, the Court granted the Petitioner’s writ of certiorari and agreed to hear her case. 

Please read our first brief  and second brief. 

The High Court held that Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles’ talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint and the lower courts failed to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny. 

In delivering the opinion of the Court, Justice Gorsuch wrote, “The Constitution does not protect the right of some to speak freely; it protects the right of all. It safeguards not only popular ideas; it secures, even and especially, the right to voice dissenting views. Consistent with these principles, our precedents have expressly rejected the State and dissent’s notion that ‘professional speech’ represents some ‘separate category of speech’ subject to ‘diminished constitutional protection.’”

The Court also rejected the argument that speech becomes “conduct” simply because it occurs in a professional setting, reaffirming that licensed professionals do not lose their First Amendment rights. Even Justices across ideological lines agreed the law was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, underscoring the fundamental nature of the First Amendment violation.

AFLDS praises SCOTUS for rejecting the State of Colorado’s attempt to dictate what licensed professionals are allowed to say. The Constitution does not permit the government to enforce ideological conformity in the doctor-patient relationship. 

This is not care. It is the medical mutilation of healthy children, and the government cannot silence professionals who refuse to participate in it.

In a statement following this major victory, AFLDS attorney David Dalia stated, “We should all be grateful to the Supreme Court for rejecting Colorado’s so-called ‘conversion therapy’ law, which turned reality on its head. Colorado prohibited counselors from even discussing with a minor the possibility that he might be a boy, labeling that as ‘conversion therapy,’ while allowing counselors to encourage minors to attempt to change their sex. Statistically, the vast majority of minors will outgrow gender confusion. This is blatant viewpoint discrimination. Other states have passed similar laws. The Constitution does not allow the government to dictate what a licensed professional may say based on ideology. Colorado attempted to silence one side of a deeply contested medical and ethical issue while permitting the other. The Court correctly made clear that the First Amendment cannot be evaded by relabeling speech as ‘treatment.’ When the government allows one viewpoint and prohibits another, it crosses a constitutional line.”

AFLDS Founder and President Dr. Simone Gold added, “Colorado’s law was an assault on our God-given liberties. By striking down this law, the Supreme Court affirmed our constitutionally protected right to free speech. The children of Colorado will be better protected against the radical agenda of the medical mutilation industry. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a tremendous First Amendment victory that will help safeguard the health and safety of our children for generations to come.”

Stay tuned - We will keep you updated on our progress and efforts to end the medical mutilation of children. 

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Media Contact Lisa Alexander, Executive Director | Media@AFLDS.org