DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis struck back Monday against the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding “conversion” talk therapy, signing a bill allowing patients to sue for damages and issuing an executive order blocking state funds from being used to support such counseling.
The Democrat-sponsored legislation, entitled Civil Actions for Conversion Therapy Survivors, creates a civil cause of action for those harmed by “sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts” and lifts the two-year time limit on claims.
“People shouldn’t be ripped off by those falsely claiming that they can change who you are attracted to or who you are,” Mr. Polis, a Democrat, said in a signing statement.
“In our Colorado for all, everyone can live authentically, and should not be subject to hateful and simply ineffective conversion therapy,” he said. “Conversion therapy is harmful, can traumatize kids, and is a scam to waste people’s hard-earned money.”
The governor, who is openly gay, also signed an executive order banning state funds from being used for “a range of discredited practices with the intended goal of changing or discouraging an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“The State has a vested interest in saving taxpayer money and in protecting LGBTQ+ individuals – and state taxpayers – from the promotion and funding of this inhumane treatment,” said the order.
Both the legislation and the order were signed on the first day of June, which marked the start of LGBTQ Pride Month.
The governor’s actions come two months after the high court issued an 8-1 decision striking down the 2019 Colorado law prohibiting “conversion” talk therapy, also known as “reparative” therapy, finding that the ban violated the free-speech rights of counselors and patients.
The legal challenge was filed by Kaley Chiles, a Colorado Springs therapist whose practice includes having conversations with youth experiencing distress about their gender as an alternative to gender-transition drugs and surgeries.
Ms. Chiles called the decision “a victory for counselors and, more importantly, kids and families everywhere.”
“When my young clients come to me for counsel, they often want to discuss issues of gender and sexuality. I look forward to being able to help them when they choose the goal of growing comfortable with their bodies,” Ms. Chiles said in a March 31 statement on the Alliance Defending Freedom website.
The alliance, which represented Ms. Chiles, said that the Colorado law allowed therapists to push young people toward an opposite-sex gender identity, but not to help them “realign their identity with their sex when they desire to do that.”
“Counselors walking alongside these young people shouldn’t be limited to promoting state-approved goals like gender transition, which often leads to harmful drugs and surgeries,” Ms. Chiles said.
The law, as written, wouldn’t necessarily apply to counselors like Ms. Chiles.
The measure defines “conversion therapy” as “any practice by a licensed mental health professional that seeks to direct a patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity outcome.”
“The definition excludes counseling that provides acceptance and support to a patient without directing toward a predetermined outcome; therapy neutral with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity, and therapy related to a patient’s sexual behaviors or relationships that does not seek to direct the patient toward a predetermined outcome,” said the governor’s office.
Democratic legislators introduced the bill a week before the Supreme Court issued its decision. The measure passed the House and Senate with no Republican votes.
The newly signed law, which takes effect July 1, also allows representatives of a patient who has died to bring a survival action within five years of the person’s death.
Rep. Alex Valdez, one of the bill’s sponsors, said Monday that the legislation creates a “clear pathway for someone who is harmed by these practices to seek justice.”
“This law is for all of the LGBTQ+ Coloradans who were told something about them that was wrong because of who they were or who they loved,” the Democrat said in a statement. “With the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, we are committed to offering survivors of this harmful practice the protections they deserve.”
