187 Members of Congress File Brief to Support Conversion Therapy Bans at SCOTUS
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39), Congressional Equality Caucus Vice Chair & House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), and Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) filed an amicus brief to urge the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of Colorado’s ban on mental health professionals engaging in conversion therapy for minors in the case of Chiles v. Salazar.
A total of 167 Members of the House of Representatives and 20 United States Senators joined the brief, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), House Democratic Whip Katherine M. Clark (MA-05), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), and every Co-Chair and Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
The Petitioner in this case is a licensed professional counselor who filed a pre-enforcement challenge against the state’s ban on conversion therapy, arguing the ban violates her freedom of speech. The members’ brief argues that the law is constitutional. It specifically highlights how legislatures have historically regulated professional conduct carried out by means of language to enforce compliance with professional standards and how Courts have historically upheld federal and state statutes regulating professional conduct that incidentally involves speech.
“Conversion therapy practices hurt kids, are widely discredited, and have no place in our modern medicine. Patients should know when they are being treated by a licensed healthcare professional that the professional is adhering to the standards of their profession,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and lead sponsor of The Equality Act in the House of Representatives. “More than 20 states across our nation have already taken action to protect young LGBTQI+ people from the very real harms of so-called ‘conversion therapy.’ I am proud to lead this brief with Congressional Equality Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu and Senator Jeff Merkley. The Supreme Court must uphold these states’ laws and allow them to continue protecting young LGBTQI+ people from harmful and cruel practices that are opposed by every major medical association.”
“As a California State Senator, I introduced and passed the first ever ban on conversion therapy for minors in the nation,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “Over twenty states have since followed suit because the facts are clear: so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a fraudulent practice. This case is not about free speech; it is about scammers who pose as health professionals that use fake science to hurt kids. I am joining Congressman Takano and Senator Merkley to lead our colleagues on an amicus brief to the Supreme Court because these bans save lives – they must be upheld.”
“The fraudulent, damaging practice of ‘conversion therapy’ has no place in our society, having been discredited by every mainstream medical association and deemed illegitimate care,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, author of the Equality Act. “This dangerous practice continues to harm our LGBTQ+ friends, family, and neighbors, and the Court must reject this divisive effort by MAGA extremists to roll back safeguards against it. Let’s keep this cruelty out of our medical care.”
"Conversion therapy has no place in any therapeutic setting. It is long-disproven, unethical, and deeply traumatic to the young people forced to endure it,” said Jennifer Pike Bailey, Director of Government Affairs at the Human Rights Campaign. “Thank you to the Members of Congress who are standing with LGBTQ+ youth and their families in urging the Supreme Court to uphold Colorado’s protections against conversion therapy."
BACKGROUND ON CONVERSION THERAPY
“Conversion therapy” refers to range of discredited practices that have long been known to cause significant and lasting psychological harm to patients by purportedly forcing patients to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. These practices are often aimed at minors, and evidence shows that LGBTQ+ youth who undergo conversion therapy are more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide compared to those who did not.
All major U.S. medical or mental healthcare associations have condemned conversion therapy, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, as of August 2025, 23 states and D.C. entirely prohibit, and 4 states and Puerto Rico restrict, licensed healthcare providers from subjecting minors to conversion therapy.
The Congressional Equality Caucus has endorsed H.R. 3243, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2025, led by Rep. Ted Lieu, which would explicitly classify providing or advertising conversion therapy in exchange for monetary compensation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act.