(The Lion) — The Supreme Court sided with a Christian counselor who argued a Colorado law unconstitutionally forced her to affirm minors’ gender dysphoria rather than counseling them to help them embrace their biological sex.

The case, Chiles v. Salazar, centered around a Colorado ban on so-called “conversion therapy,” which the state defined as any attempt to “change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity” or efforts to reduce same-sex attractions. Yet the law specifically allowed counselors to provide “acceptance, support, and understanding for … identity exploration” and to assist those “undergoing gender transition.”

Kaley Chiles, a Christian and professional counselor in Colorado, challenged the law on First Amendment laws, arguing the state law prohibited her from counseling clients who seek faith-aligned treatment so that they can embrace their biological sex and bodies. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, she argued the law regulates counseling in only “one direction” – allowing conversations that push young clients towards gender transitions but prohibiting conversations to help them “realign their identity with their sex” if they desire to.

In an 8-1 decision on Tuesday, the court agreed with Chiles, holding that the state’s ban on conversion therapy “regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny.”

In its majority opinion, the court noted that even if Colorado’s ban is “well-intentioned,” any law censoring speech on viewpoint is an “egregious” assault on the First Amendment.

“Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious

governments throughout history have believed the same,” the opinion reads. “But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects 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.”

Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Chiles, called the ruling a “monumental decision” for free speech as the court affirmed that “states cannot silence viewpoints in the counseling room.”

”Kids deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today is a significant win for free speech, common sense, and families desperate to help their children,” ADF Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell, who argued before the court, said in a statement provided to The Lion. The group noted that “roughly 90% of children who experience gender dysphoria before puberty will regain comfort with their sex if not pushed toward harmful drugs and procedures.”

The court’s decision will have national implications, ADF noted, as more than 20 states and 100 localities have similar censorship laws. The ruling also comes amid a “national mental-health crisis,” the legal group said, as children

The state agency named in the case, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, did not immediately return a request from The Lion for comment on the ruling.

First Liberty Institute cast the decision as a “great victory for religious liberty.”

“Americans should never have their professional speech censored simply because the government disfavors that speech,” First Liberty Institute CEO Kelly Shackelford said in a statement. “In this case, the Supreme Court sent a clear message to state governments that the Constitution actually means what it says when it protects the free speech of its citizens.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissent, resulting in a wave of criticism online, including from The Lion’s Executive Editor, Michael Ryan:

Ketanji Brown Jackson is a dumpster fire on ice.

That a sitting Supreme Court justice would outlaw speech disfavored by the government should frighten every American.

It should be an immediate impeachable offense.@seanmdav #supremecourt #firstamendment #FreeSpeechOnTrial https://t.co/k4wNUxCduq

— Michael Ryan (@MRyanKC) March 31, 2026