The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17 issued a closely watched First Amendment ruling in Kaley Chiles, Petitioner v. Patty Salazar, in Her Official Capacity as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, et al., holding that Colorado’s law restricting licensed counselors from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity must be evaluated under strict scrutiny.

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a major First Amendment ruling in Chiles v. Salazar, holding that Colorado’s conversion-therapy law, as applied to a licensed counselor’s talk therapy with minors, regulates speech based on viewpoint and that the lower courts did not apply the required level of constitutional scrutiny. The decision is likely to reshape ongoing litigation over state regulation of licensed professionals and could prompt renewed challenges to similar laws across the country.

The case was brought by counselor Kaley Chiles, who argued that Colorado’s law barred her from engaging in voluntary, client-directed conversations about sexuality and gender identity when those conversations sought outcomes the state disfavored.