{"id":2495958,"date":"2025-10-08T06:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alito-slams-co-for-saying-therapists-cant-affirm-kids-natural-sex\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T06:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:34:58","slug":"alito-slams-co-for-saying-therapists-cant-affirm-kids-natural-sex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alito-slams-co-for-saying-therapists-cant-affirm-kids-natural-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"Alito Slams CO For Saying Therapists Can&#8217;t Affirm Kids&#8217; Natural Sex"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falito-slams-co-for-saying-therapists-cant-affirm-kids-natural-sex%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2495958&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh article discusses Associate Justice Samuel Alito&#8217;s criticism of a Colorado law that bans &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; for minors during a Supreme Court case titled *Chiles v. Salazar*.The law prohibits therapists from offering counseling aimed at helping minors overcome same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria, which Kaley Chiles, a licensed therapist, argues infringes on her First Amendment free speech rights. During oral arguments, Alito highlighted the law&#8217;s apparent viewpoint discrimination by presenting hypothetical cases where a minor seeks therapy either to accept or to change thier same-sex attraction. He pointed out that the law permits affirming therapy but forbids counseling aimed at changing attractions, thus discriminating based on viewpoint. Colorado&#8217;s Solicitor General defended the law by stating that the ban targets harmful practices, not speech per se. Though, Justice Elena Kagan agreed with Alito&#8217;s assessment, noting that such <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >differential treatment constitutes viewpoint discrimination<\/a> under normal free speech principles. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/north-carolina-supreme-court-race-why-is-it-still-undecided-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"North Carolina ... race: Why is it still undecided - Washington Examiner\">case raises critically important questions<\/a> about free speech,medical practice,and the rights of therapists and minors.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P3240DEFb2c\">Hoover Institution\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/blatant-viewpoint-discrimination-justice-alito-kneecaps-colorados-defense-of-anti-speech-therapy-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=%E2%80%98Blatant%20Viewpoint%20Discrimination%E2%80%99:%20Alito%20Slams%20Colorado%20For%20Telling%20Therapists%20They%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Affirm%20Kids%E2%80%99%20Natural%20Sex&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/blatant-viewpoint-discrimination-justice-alito-kneecaps-colorados-defense-of-anti-speech-therapy-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=%E2%80%98Blatant%20Viewpoint%20Discrimination%E2%80%99:%20Alito%20Slams%20Colorado%20For%20Telling%20Therapists%20They%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Affirm%20Kids%E2%80%99%20Natural%20Sex&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/blatant-viewpoint-discrimination-justice-alito-kneecaps-colorados-defense-of-anti-speech-therapy-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/blatant-viewpoint-discrimination-justice-alito-kneecaps-colorados-defense-of-anti-speech-therapy-law\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=%E2%80%98Blatant%20Viewpoint%20Discrimination%E2%80%99:%20Alito%20Slams%20Colorado%20For%20Telling%20Therapists%20They%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Affirm%20Kids%E2%80%99%20Natural%20Sex&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/blatant-viewpoint-discrimination-justice-alito-kneecaps-colorados-defense-of-anti-speech-therapy-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Associate Justice Samuel Alito exposed the absurdity of a Colorado law prohibiting so-called &ldquo;conversion therapy&rdquo; for minors during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-considers-allowing-video-of-george-floyds-2019-arrest-in-trial\/\" title=\"Judge considers allowing video of George Floyd\u2019s 2019 arrest in trial\">high-profile case<\/a> before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The moment came during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/oral_arguments\/argument_transcripts\/2025\/24-539_7l48.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oral arguments<\/a> in <em>Chiles v. Salazar<\/em>, a case <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">focused<\/a> on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-temporarily-blocks-desantis-bill-restricting-woke-workplace-trainings\/\" title=\"Judge Temporarily Blocks DeSantis\u2019 Bill Restricting \u2018Woke\u2019 Workplace Trainings\">legal challenge brought<\/a> by Colorado resident Kaley Chiles. A licensed therapist who provides counseling to children struggling with issues related to sexual orientation and gender dysphoria, Chiles alleges that the Centennial State&rsquo;s &ldquo;conversion therapy&rdquo; law infringes upon her First Amendment right to free speech by inhibiting the types of discussions she has with her minor clients. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1173088976\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When questioning Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson, Alito posed a pair of hypothetical scenarios undermining the state&rsquo;s argument that the statute does not engage in &ldquo;viewpoint discrimination.&rdquo; Alito&rsquo;s questioning exposed the state&rsquo;s policy of permitting therapists to encourage a child&rsquo;s homosexual- or transgenderism-related behaviors, while at the same time prohibiting therapists from offering counseling that could help a child overcome them.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So in the first situation, an adolescent male comes to a licensed therapist and says he&rsquo;s attracted to other males, but he feels uneasy and guilty with those feelings. He wants to end or lessen them, and he asks for the therapist&rsquo;s help in doing so,&rdquo; Alito said. &ldquo;The other situation is a similar adolescent male comes to a licensed therapist, says he&rsquo;s attracted to other males, feels uneasy and guilty about those feelings, and he wants the therapist&rsquo;s help so he will feel comfortable as a gay young man.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Bush appointee went on to argue that Colorado&rsquo;s interpretation of the statute &ldquo;dictates opposite results in those two situations &hellip; based on the viewpoint expressed.&rdquo; &ldquo;One viewpoint,&rdquo; he noted, &ldquo;is the viewpoint that a minor should be able to obtain talk therapy to overcome same-sex attraction, if that&rsquo;s what &hellip; he or she wants,&rdquo; while &ldquo;the other is the viewpoint that the minor should not be able to obtain talk therapy to overcome same-sex attraction, even if that is what he or she wants.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This &ldquo;[l]ooks like blatant viewpoint discrimination,&rdquo; Alito said. <\/p>\n<p>In response, Stevenson claimed that both examples would &ldquo;be permissible&rdquo; under Colorado&rsquo;s law &ldquo;because it didn&rsquo;t sound like in either case the goal was to actually change sexual orientation.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And again, that&rsquo;s the touchstone because that&rsquo;s where the harms come from,&rdquo; Stevenson said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Federalist&rsquo;s Guide To The 2025 Supreme Court Term<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Colorado solicitor general&rsquo;s argument didn&rsquo;t appear convincing &mdash; even to Associate Justice Elena Kagan. <\/p>\n<p>Referencing Alito&rsquo;s query, the Obama appointee posed a similar hypothetical with the assumption &ldquo;that we&rsquo;re in normal free speech land rather than in this kind of doctor land.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If a doctor says, &lsquo;I know you identify as gay, and I&rsquo;m going to help you accept that,&rsquo; and another doctor says, &lsquo;I know you identify as gay, and I&rsquo;m going to help you to change that,&rsquo; and one of those is permissible and the other is not, that seems like viewpoint discrimination in the way we would normally understand viewpoint discrimination,&rdquo; Kagan said. <\/p>\n<p>Stevenson did not dispute Kagan&rsquo;s reasoning, but attempted to defend Colorado&rsquo;s law by arguing that &ldquo;medical treatment has to be treated differently because any time you exclude one harmful practice, you are by definition saying these things are allowed because they are not harmful and these things are excluded because they are harmful.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the driving force behind regulating the particular practice,&rdquo; Stevenson added. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/chiles-v-salazar\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Chiles v. Salazar<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/colorado\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Colorado<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/conversion-therapy\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">conversion therapy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elena-kagan\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elena Kagan<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/first-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">First Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/free-speech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">free speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/samuel-alito\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Samuel Alito<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/shannon-stevenson\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Shannon Stevenson<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/viewpoint-discrimination\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">viewpoint discrimination<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alito highlighted flaws in Colorado&#8217;s ban on conversion therapy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2495959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Alito.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4430,6024,64800,44332,51891],"class_list":["post-2495958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-alito","tag-colorado","tag-gender-affirmation-2","tag-legal-dispute","tag-therapists-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Alito.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495958"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495962,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495958\/revisions\/2495962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}