The challenge to Colorado’s counseling censorship law was brought by Colorado licensed counselor Kaley Chiles, who is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and co-counsel Barry Arrington and Shaun Pearman in Chiles v. Salazar. Chiles wants to help young people distressed about their gender achieve their chosen goal to grow comfortable with their bodies and avoid harmful drugs and procedures. But the Colorado law forbids her from doing so.
“The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors,” said ADF Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell. “There is a growing consensus around the world that adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria need love and an opportunity to talk through their struggles and feelings. Colorado’s law harms these young people by depriving them of caring and compassionate conversations with a counselor who helps them pursue the goals they desire.”
“Together with the support of the United States government, 21 states, and dozens of free-speech advocates, health care professionals, and families, we are eager to defend Kaley’s First Amendment right to help kids and families achieve their goals and ensure that government officials don’t impose their ideology on private conversations between counselors and clients,” Campbell added.
Chiles argues that Colorado’s law violates her freedom of speech by prohibiting licensed counselors like her from engaging in counseling conversations with clients under age 18 who want to change some expression, behavior, identity, or feeling associated with their “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Significantly, the law only prohibits counseling conversations in one direction. For example, it allows counseling conversations that push young people toward a gender identity different than their sex but prohibits conversations that help them grow comfortable with their sex when they desire to do that. The law also threatens severe penalties, including suspension and even revocation of the counselor’s license. This one-sided censorship comes amidst a growing national mental-health crisis and prevents many Colorado children from obtaining the counseling that they desire – and that is likely to help them.
The many individuals and groups who expressed support for Chiles include the United States government. As the federal government’s brief explains, “How best to help minors struggling with issues of gender or sexuality is a subject of fierce public debate. Colorado has effectively silenced one side of this debate by allowing licensed therapists to convey only the state-approved message of encouraging minors to explore their gender identities” (citations and quotation marks omitted).
Supporting briefs also came from parents who have had difficulties finding licensed counselors to help their children as a result of Colorado’s law and others like it. An excerpt from one brief filed by Colorado families discusses the concerns: “As a result of her parents’ inability to find a counselor to address her need, the child’s emotional distress deepened. The delay in obtaining counseling, coupled with the therapist’s refusal to address her concerns, led to greater confusion, depression, and ultimately suicidal thoughts.”
Republished with permission from Alliance Defending Freedom
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
