The U.S. Supreme Court held that Colorado engaged in viewpoint discrimination and violated the First Amendment when it banned licensed therapists from talking with patients about gender identity in ways that affirm a patient’s biological sex. The law allowed counselors to assist clients who are “undergoing gender transition” but banned counselors from talking to clients about aligning gender identity with biological sex.
First & Fourteenth filed an amicus brief supporting Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor challenging the law, on behalf of The Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Family Policy Alliance, and Summit Ministries. Partner Michael Francisco led the matter.
The ruling is an important win for Chiles and for the position that the state cannot avoid the First Amendment by treating protected counseling speech as ordinary professional regulation. As Justice Gorsuch’s opinion for the Supreme Court put it, “The First Amendment is no word game. And the rights it protects cannot be renamed away or their protections nullified by ‘mere labels.’”
Read Opinion Here: Chiles v. Salazar