By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Discouraged, disappointed, and dangerous were the words used by Glasgow resident Chadwick Shockley when describing the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opens the door to conversion therapy.
“The first thing that I thought when I heard about the ruling [is that] there are a number of studies that show that this type of therapy is directly associated with very high rates of depression and suicidal ideas,” said Shockley, who is also the president of Glasgow Pride. “Not only among young people, but among any age…I think it’s horrific because of the implications.”
The American Psychiatric Association released a statement following the ruling that echoed Shockley’s concerns of potential harm.
“[We are] deeply concerned that the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar will potentially harm many LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly minors, who will no longer be protected by state laws against conversion therapy,” the association’s statement reads. “Being LGBTQ+ is not a mental illness or disorder. Conversion therapy — efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity — is not a legitimate therapeutic treatment.”
The Supreme Court issued the 8-1 ruling on March 31, with Justice Neil Gorsuch saying that Colorado’s law against conversion therapy “impermissibly regulated her speech” by preventing her from doing anything in counseling that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter. She explained her decision as a medical treatment issue rather than a free speech one, saying that “talk therapy is a medical treatment.”
“No one directly disputes that Colorado has the power to regulate the medical treatments that state-licensed professionals provide to patients,” she said. “So, in my view, it cannot also be the case that Colorado’s decision to restrict a dangerous therapy modality that, incidentally, involves provider speech is presumptively unconstitutional.”
In 2024, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order banning conversion therapy on minors but in 2025 the General Assembly overturned Beshear’s veto of House Bill 495, which overturned his executive order and legalized the scientifically discredited practice again in the commonwealth, according to outside reporting and the American Psychological Association.
The full 66-page decision can be viewed here.
Key Facts
• U.S. Supreme Court issues 8-1 ruling affecting state limits on conversion therapy
• Justice Neil Gorsuch says Colorado’s law impermissibly regulated a counselor’s speech
• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissents, calling it a medical treatment issue
• Glasgow Pride president Chadwick Shockley calls conversion therapy dangerous and linked to depression and suicidal thoughts
• Kentucky’s 2024 executive order banning conversion therapy for minors was effectively reversed in 2025
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