For Immediate Release

Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar narrows vital protections for young people

Young people deserve access to health care that supports their well-being, not therapy that tries to erase who they are. It’s for this reason that NCYL strongly denounces the Supreme Court’s opinion issued today in Chiles v. Salazar. The court found that a state medical licensing law that limits licensed therapists from engaging in harmful conversion talk therapy — a dangerous discredited practice that attempts to change an LGBTQ+ young person’s sexuality or gender — violates the free speech rights of therapists. The court’s opinion narrows statutory protections for LGBTQ+ youth, a particularly devastating decision as public bigotry and threats toward these youth intensify.

“All too often, adults use LGBTQ+ youth as political pawns to drum up fear, sow division, and enforce rigid social and gender norms,” said NCYL Attorney Kamala Buchanan-Williams. “But LGBTQ+ youth are incredible. They are resilient, unique, and will not allow themselves to be erased. NCYL will continue to stand alongside them in protecting their right to be themselves.”

Conversion therapy has been rejected by every major medical and mental health organization in the country. As NCYL argued in an amicus brief, and as Justice Jackson recognized in her dissent, conversion therapy, among its many harms, destroys families. Practitioners of such therapy often prey on loving but frightened parents, convincing them that their child’s identity is a symptom of poor parenting or family dysfunction. They offer, and are based on, a false premise that a child’s inherent identity can be changed, and in doing so, drive wedges between children and their parents. Too often, those wedges become permanent fractures. Many young people who endure conversion therapy are rejected or forced out of their homes. They end up homeless, in the foster system, or involved in the juvenile legal system, all of which perpetuate further harms to LGBTQ+ youth. As Justice Jackson acknowledged, for too many youth, conversion therapy brings “nothing but increased isolation from…family, worsening depression, and suicidal ideation.”

It is important to know that the court was not deciding whether conversion therapy is safe, effective or ethical. It is not. The question before the court was how a state can regulate dangerous talk therapy practices that harm youth and families, and the court’s decision made protecting youth and families from those practices much harder. NCYL remains vigilant in working to ensure that all young people have access to safe, affirming healthcare, self-determination, and family integrity.

###

The National Center for Youth Law centers youth through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation’s approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Our vision is a world in which every child thrives and has a full and fair opportunity to achieve the future they envision for themselves. For more information, visit www.youthlaw.org.