This Supreme Court Ruling Has Major Implications for Free Speech
In a monumental decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that counseling conversations are speech and that states cannot silence viewpoints in the counseling room.
In 2019, Colorado enacted a law prohibiting licensed counselors from engaging in “conversion therapy.” Under that law, counselors are free to engage in pro-LGBT counseling, but they cannot help people who want to overcome their same-sex attraction or gender confusion.
But last week the Court delivered an 8-1 opinion saying that Colorado’s law against so-called “conversion therapy” violates the First Amendment.
Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom helped litigate the case. In a statement, ADF said:
Kaley Chiles is a licensed professional counselor in Colorado who seeks to listen, guide, and help young people find peace in their own bodies. With their parents’ support, these clients come to her by choice—seeking honest, compassionate care.
But a Colorado law passed in 2019 forbids her from helping kids find peace in their own bodies, even when that’s exactly what they want. If she does, she faces crushing fines and the potential loss of her license.
Colorado’s counseling censorship law violates Kaley’s freedom of speech and that of her clients by censoring and prohibiting certain private client-counselor conversations regarding gender identity that the government disfavors while allowing—even encouraging—conversations the government favors.
This is clear, viewpoint-based censorship.
In a video interview with Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, ADF senior counsel Jake Warner said, “Colorado has been no respecter of the First Amendment. ADF has litigated multiple cases, including up to the U.S. Supreme Court against the state of Colorado in its effort to censor ideas that it disagrees with.”
Warner also said the ruling helps protect counselors not only in Colorado, but in at least 23 other states and over 100 local jurisdictions around the country that have enacted similar bans on “conversion therapy.”
Many people want counselors to help them overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, and many medical experts — like the American College of Pediatricians and the HHS — believe that encouraging a child to disagree with his or her biological sex is harmful.
In Arkansas, multiple “conversion therapy” bans have been filed at the Capitol over the years, but none have passed. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in this case shows that Arkansas’ lawmakers were right not to enact these flawed measures.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
Is Transgender Ideology “In Retreat”?
For the past decade, pro-LGBT groups have promoted the idea that men can “identify” as women, and women can “identify” as men. To many people, it seemed like transgender ideology was generally accepted among corporate leaders, public officials, doctors, and educators. But as our friends at Washington Watch recently pointed out, evidence now shows that common sense may be returning and transgender ideology is in retreat in America.
Pollsters at Gallup have found most Americans now say it is “morally wrong” to change genders. Most believe that drivers’ licenses should list biological sex instead of gender identity. And most do not think men should compete against women in women’s sports.
The shift in public opinion could be happening because many Americans have witnessed firsthand how harmful transgender ideology can be.
Below are three examples of how transgender ideology can be harmful.
#1: Transgender ideology has promoted sex-change procedures to children and their families. That’s why Arkansas has adopted good laws protecting children from these procedures.
Pro-LGBT activists and medical organizations spent years citing each other’s work in a circular pattern to manufacture a fake consensus about performing sex-change procedures on kids.
But public health experts and policymakers in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, and other nations have found that science simply does not support giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.
These drugs and procedures carry serious risks — including infertility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density, and cardiovascular problems. But whistleblowers have testified about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives.
In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act that generally prohibits doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The SAFE Act was upheld in federal court last year and is protecting children in Arkansas right now.
Since 2021, more than half of the states across America have enacted laws similar to the SAFE Act. That’s good news.
#2: Transgender ideology also has undermined the physical privacy and safety of women and girls. That’s why Arkansas has adopted good laws protecting privacy.
In 2016, the Obama Administration issued federal “guidelines” directing every public school in America — including schools in Arkansas — to let biological males use girls’ locker rooms, showers, bathrooms, and similar facilities at school.
Over the years, we have seen efforts to house men with women in jails, let men stay in women’s shelters, and place boys and girls in the same hotel room on overnight school trips.
In 2023, Arkansas’ lawmakers passed Act 317 to protect privacy in public school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and similar facilities by requiring public schools to designate these facilities for “male” or “female” use.
In 2025, Arkansas passed Act 955 by Sen. Blake Johnson (R — Corning) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) expanding those protections to apply to government buildings, jails, and shelters for victims of domestic violence.
These are good laws protecting physical privacy and safety in Arkansas.
#3: When it comes to athletic programs, transgender ideology reverses 50 years of advancements for women and effectively erases women’s athletics. That’s why Arkansas has passed laws protecting fairness in women’s sports.
Female swimmers, powerlifters, cyclists, sprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women. This hampers their ability to compete for athletic scholarships and hurts their professional opportunities as adults. In some sports, it can even be dangerous.
Concerned Women for America estimates that more than 1,900 male athletes who claim to be female have taken first place medals away from women and girls.
In 2021, Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.
Right now the U.S. Supreme Court is considering laws from West Virginia and Idaho that are similar to Act 461. If the Court rules against these protections, it could affect states like Arkansas. That’s why Family Council joined dozens of state policy organizations and more than 200 state legislators in a legal brief in the case last September.
We are confident the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately uphold these laws and rule in favor of fairness in women’s sports.
Conclusion
Culturally, we are no longer seeing the same degree of corporate, pro-LGBT pandering that we have in the past.
Most Fortune 500 companies no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s equality index.
Many major businesses have reduced their LGBT-themed marketing and rolled back pro-LGBT policies.
As some have said, much of what we are seeing proves that the “silent majority” is real when it comes to the transgender issue.
Family Council has been pleased to work with its friends in the Arkansas Legislature to support passage of good laws addressing these issues and others. We look forward to continuing that important work in the future.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.