Chiles v. Salazar

607 U. S. 627 (2026) · 3/31/26

Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to petitioner’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny.

Kaley Chiles holds a master's degree in clinical mental health and a state counseling license in Colorado. Ms. Chiles does not begin counseling with any predetermined goals; instead, she sits down with clients, discusses their goals, and then formulates methods of counseling that will most benefit them, seeking throughout to respect her clients' fundamental right of self-determination. On matters of sexuality and gender, Ms. Chiles's clients, including young people, often have different goals: Some are content with their sexual orientation and gender identity and want help with social issues…

Held: Colorado's law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles's talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny. Pp. 639–655. (a) The First Amendment protects the inalienable right of every individual to decide for himself “how best to speak,” Riley v. National Fed eration of Blind of N. C., Inc., 487 U. S. 781, 791, and laws regulating speech based on its subject matter or “communicative content” are “presumptively unconstitutional,” triggering “strict scrutiny” that requires the…