- Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth
Media Contact
Shaplaie Brooks, Executive Director
In a decision that should shock the conscience of our community, the US Supreme Court has decided that current language in Colorado’s statute banning conversion therapy implemented through talk therapy violates a therapist’s First Amendment right to free speech. While this decision does not strike down Colorado’s law, the decision breaks the levies in an already challenging domain for LGBTQIA+ people. Conversion therapy - even through cognitive behavioral talk therapy (CBT) - provides a pathway to psychological harm for LGBTQIA+ youth by teaching them that who they are is wrong.
The Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth’s position is aligned with every major mental health and medical organization. Conversion therapy is not care; its allowance through talk therapy is not free speech. It is a legal loophole that turns a blind eye to religious coercion.
Across much of the country, there is a broad recognition that LGBTQIA+ identities are not pathological, but rather a natural and valid part of the human experience. Sexual orientation and gender identity are understood as deeply personal journeys, not conditions requiring correction.
The Commission was created for such a time as this. To LGBTQIA+ youth – who you are is already perfect. We will not quietly stand by while the federal government seeks to erase our community and take your autonomy away. While we are still assessing the legal implications of the decision, know that, in Massachusetts, we will fight to protect you from what threatens your ability to thrive.
What This Decision is NOT about
The legality of conversion therapy: Colorado law still stands. The decision highlights issues with the statutory language regarding talk therapy in Colorado’s current law and its infringement on the First Amendment right to free speech.
Whether or not conversion therapy is ethical: The APA and other major health organizations agree that conversion therapy is harmful - therefore unethical.
Protection for licensed therapists from civil lawsuits: There are still legal remedies for families and young people that could include medical malpractice, consumer fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
To help us understand what has happened and why it’s important, we wanted to dive deeper into the case.
What the SCOTUS Decision is About
First Amendment
The First Amendment protects the right to freely express ideas through speech, the press, religion, and assembly free from government suppression or criminalization. However, this right is not absolute. The government may impose limitations where speech causes harm, threatens public safety, or undermines the well-being of others. Similarly, while the Constitution protects religious expression, that protection does not extend to practices that violate public welfare or established standards of care.
The Supreme Court heard arguments specific to the clinician’s use of talk therapy as a diversion to LGBTQIA+ youth’s gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation; triggering the legal question concerning one’s constitutional right to free speech. NOT whether conversion therapy is free speech for a licensed professional.
Duty and Standard of Care/Code of Ethics
The Supreme Court’s decision did not call into question the duty of care or the standard of care for licensed professionals. The standard is higher for clinicians, physicians, and others in the medical field. The legal standard of care requires professionals to exercise the same skill, knowledge, and judgment as others in good standing within their field.
Licensed professionals are bound by ethical codes that establish standards of care and protect those they serve. These codes are not optional. They function as the governing framework of the profession. Violations can result in loss of licensure and civil liability (through malpractice suits and intentional infliction of emotional distress) because they represent a failure to meet the profession’s fundamental duty to do no harm.
These ethics include but are not limited to:
- Beneficence and Nonmaleficence: Psychologists strive to benefit those they work with and take care to do no harm, safeguarding the welfare and rights of humans and animal research subjects.
- Avoiding Harm (Standard 3.04): Psychologists must minimize harm that is foreseeable and unavoidable and actively avoid causing harm.
- Conflict of Interest (Standard 3.06): Psychologists must refrain from taking professional roles when personal, scientific, or professional interests could impair their objectivity or cause harm.
Conversion Therapy
Conversion therapy is a psychologically harmful pseudoscientific practice that attempts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms.
The known harms of conversion therapy are reinforced by the professional consensus. In May 2024, the American Psychological Association reaffirmed its opposition to conversion therapy, stating that such practices are based on the unfounded assumption that diverse sexual orientations and gender identities are mental illnesses. Instead, the APA supports affirming therapeutic approaches that respect and validate identity.
Conversion therapy has been widely discredited and often is better described as psychological torture. It lacks credible scientific evidence and is associated with significant psychological harm. Its practice is rooted not in clinical neutrality, but in personal belief systems that compromise a clinician’s ethical obligations. Its use, particularly when imposed on minors, exacerbates a well-documented public health crisis among LGBTQ youth, many of whom seek critical support from a clinician whom the state has deemed a trusted professional.
Suicidality in LGBTQIA+ Youth is a Public Health Issue
Data reflects this harm with alarming clarity. Nationally, The Trevor Project reported that over 40% of LGBTQIA+ youth report seriously considering suicide, with 12-18% reporting attempts. LGBTQIA+ youth are 5-8 times more likely to experience suicidal ideation than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Transgender and nonbinary youth are facing even higher risks with up to 41% of transgender individuals reporting a suicide attempt in their lifetime. In Massachusetts, 1 in 5 of our students identify as LGBTQIA+, but 15% of our LGBTQIA+ youth reported a suicide attempt in the past year, with one-third (33%) reporting suicidal ideation. Nearly 6% of Massachusetts students identify as transgender but 23% reported a recent suicide attempt and 42% reported suicidal ideation.
These outcomes are not abstract. They are the measurable consequences of environments that reject, rather than affirm, identity.
A clinical setting that seeks to strip a patient of their autonomy to explore their identity is not only harmful, but also an act of violence. This kind of conduct is widely recognized as abuse in interpersonal relationships. Society understands the inherent power imbalance between an adult and a minor. That same imbalance exists between a licensed clinician and a person under 18, where authority, trust, and influence carry profound weight. When that power is misused, it is not treatment- it is coercion.
True clinical growth is rooted in empowerment, supporting individuals in building self-trust, agency, and self-acceptance through guided, not coerced, exploration.
Bringing the Issue Together
Protection under the First Amendment ends where there is speech or conduct that breaches the peace and causes harm. The harm caused by conversion therapy is foreseeable to the mental health community. It is an act that produces a "natural and continuous sequence" of events that are directly linked to the suicidality of those who have experienced it.
This decision raises profound concerns about the Court’s lens regarding this issue. While it is always in the best interest of this country to scrutinize constitutional infringements; it becomes a threat to the freedom of all Americans when even a single justice departs from established public health realities and, from the bench, cloaks personal views under the guise of constitutional protection. This- as a judicial practice stains the bench and stands as a moral indictment against those entrusted with protecting vulnerable communities.
What This Means
While this decision does not strike down Colorado law, it undeniably weakens its enforcement. The twenty-four states that have enacted bans on conversion therapy should act proactively to strengthen their statutes and close any gaps this ruling may expose.
Caregivers and young people must also be empowered to pursue legal remedies, which could include medical malpractice, consumer fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. There are methods for holding licensed professionals legally accountable.
What can we do in Massachusetts?
- Make efforts, where prudent, to bolster protections to our current statute. This includes statute of limitations extensions and consumer protection language.
- Foster cross-sector collaboration among legislators, licensed clinicians, and faith leaders to build a shared understanding of the law, its protections, and the ethical responsibilities owed to youth.
- Expand education efforts to ensure that parents, caregivers, and young people understand their legal rights and the protections available to them.
- Increase access to caregiver engagement and training programs that support affirming environments and help bridge gaps in understanding between LGBTQIA+ youth and their families.
- Strengthen statutory language that protects LGBTQIA+ youth by clearly defining abuse and discrimination, including explicit examples related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Advance S.146/H.273, “An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system,” to establish a standardized framework within the Department of Children and Families for classifying abuse and neglect, including harm related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and race.
Sobering Truth
It is dangerous when the highest court in the land appears to elevate individual belief over established law, science, and the well-being of marginalized people. The law has too often been used as a tool of oppression. Yet, in 2026, we are confronted with the resurgence of a familiar threat, the use of religious or moral justification to legitimize harm.
If free speech can be used by licensed professionals to force their beliefs onto others, in direct conflict with their ethical obligations, then what are our inalienable rights? And what is left of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
At its core, this case is not simply about speech. It is about clinical harm, accountability, and whether the law will continue to protect those most at risk or abandon them.
We will not mince words. The Supreme Court, shaped by the priorities of this administration, is positioning itself as an institution willing to redefine the humanity of marginalized people. This country once legislated enumeration methods, counting its citizens first as head of households, free white males 16+, free white males under 16, free white females, and then counting black people as three-fifths of a person. Marginalized people have been forced to fight for recognition, dignity, and the right to simply exist as whole. However, “we aren’t going back”.
We are not asking for our collective humanity to be recognized. We are asserting it.
Moment of Encouragement From our Executive Director
To our young people, do not lose hope. You are not alone. You are surrounded by a community of LGBTQIA+ adults and allies who are fighting for you every single day.
On a personal level, as a preacher’s kid who is also queer, I understand firsthand the harm that can come from religious coercion. What I have come to learn is that one’s spiritual journey is just as personal as the path to self discovery. The LGBTQIA+ faith community in Massachusetts is not only present, it is thriving. While I continue to heal from the harm I experienced in my youth, I have reclaimed my sense of belonging and found safety, community, and love that does not ask me to change who I am. You will find the same.
Your voice matters. Your identity matters. Your love matters.
You are seen. You are heard. And you are worthy, exactly as you are.
To the rest of us – let’s get to work.
In Power & Service,
Shaplaie Brooks, Executive Director
Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth
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