Colorado lawmakers pass rewritten conversion therapy ban after Supreme Court ruling
Colorado lawmakers have passed a ban on conversion therapy (stock image via Getty Images)
Colorado lawmakers have approved a rewritten ban on so-called “conversion therapy” in an effort to preserve protections for LGBTQ+ youth after the US Supreme Court struck down the state’s previous law earlier this year.
The new legislation, HB26-1322, now heads to Democratic governor Jared Polis, who is gay. Polis is expected to sign the bill into law.
The updated bill was drafted in direct response to the Supreme Court’s March ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, which found Colorado’s earlier ban unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.
Now, rather than prohibiting therapists from encouraging minors away from LGBTQ+ identities specifically, the rewritten law instead bars licensed mental health providers from imposing any “predetermined outcome” regarding a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, regardless of direction.
Supporters say the new wording makes the law “viewpoint-neutral” while still protecting young people from coercive conduct in talk-therapy settings.
“The Supreme Court gave specific guidance about how to amend conversion therapy laws to be viewpoint-neutral so that these protections can remain in place,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, in a statement, as per The Advocate. “Given the urgency of this issue and the danger that conversion therapy poses to youth, Colorado moved swiftly.”
The legislation also expands legal options for survivors by extending the statute of limitations for malpractice claims tied to conversion therapy. Survivors can now pursue claims up to decades after harm has occurred.
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