Equality Caucus Slams SCOTUS Decision Ruling Against Conversion Therapy Bans

WASHINGTON, DC — Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, a case on the constitutionality of Colorado’s ban on licensed mental health professionals engaging in conversion therapy for minors, Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Takano released the following statement:

“Young LGBTQI+ will suffer because of today’s Supreme Court decision. This decision, however, doesn’t change the fact that conversion therapy is still dangerous, disproven, and denounced by every major medical association in the United States,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “Providers who engage in these practices are actively endangering the wellbeing of young LGBTQI+ people and defrauding their families by promising to “fix” something that is simply not broken. Young LGBTQI+ people should not have to be subjected to this kind of cruelty—especially by licensed health care providers. The Congressional Equality Caucus will continue to push federal legislation to address this harmful and fraudulent practice.”

BACKGROUND
“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. As of 2026, 23 states and D.C. entirely prohibit—and 4 states and Puerto Rico restrict—licensed healthcare providers from subjecting LGBTQI+ minors to conversion therapy. Today’s ruling undermines these important protections for young LGBTQI+ people. 

In August 2025, CEC Chair Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39), Vice Chair Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led 187 Members of Congress in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold Colorado’s conversion therapy ban. Read the Equality Caucus’s press release on the amicus brief here. Read the amicus brief here.