The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice.

An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court, said the law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” The First Amendment, he wrote, “stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country.”

  • manxu@piefed.social
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    14 hours ago

    I don’t really get how two of the liberal justices concurred with this. Therapy is a licensed profession, and as with all licensed professions, it comes with restrictions, including on the things that can be said while providing licensed services.

    The counselor can spend all day telling people they should convert to the one true faith of the orange monster. She is just not allowed to tell kids they are better off not being themselves when she is professionally counseling them.

    I would argue that if Colorado (or any jurisdiction) did not ban a practice known to be harmful, it would be liable for the consequences, too. It would be like the FDA knowing that vaccine save lives and deciding to discourage their use. Oh, wait, I forgot we are in this timeline…

    In short, beautiful lemmings, be brave, be bold, be gay, be trans, just don’t forget to be current on your vaxxes. Every time a lemming gets a jab, there is one more clot forming in the arteries of the one that shall not be named!