Chiles v. Salazar · ¶67

We do not doubt that the question “how best to help minors” struggling with issues of gender identity or sexual orientation is presently a subject of “ferce public debate.” Tingley v. Ferguson, 601 U. S. 955, 956 (2023) (Thomas, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). But Colorado's law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint. Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It refects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However…

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