AU denounces SCOTUS decision that could subject LGBTQ+ children to harmful conversion ‘therapy’ practices

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Chiles v. Salazar case, which involved a Colorado law that protects children from harmful conversion ‘therapy’ practices:

Religious freedom not a license to harm LGBTQ+ children

“The decision today delivered a win to Christian Nationalists seeking to turn religious freedom into a weapon to harm others. Shamefully, their target this time is vulnerable LGBTQ+ children who may now suffer from dangerous and widely discredited conversion ‘therapy’ practices. Religious freedom does not give anyone the license to harm children.

“This campaign to strip protections from LGBTQ+ children was spearheaded by the Christian Nationalist group Alliance Defending Freedom as part of a nationwide effort to force everyone to live by their narrow beliefs. Today’s decision continues the trend of troubling precedent allowing religious extremists to harm our children. Now more than ever, we need a national recommitment to church-state separation; our children and our democracy are on the line.” 

AU brief argued Colorado law did not violate First Amendment

Americans United was joined by nearly two dozen national and Colorado-based religious organizations in an amicus brief that had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm that Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law does not violate the First Amendment rights of mental health practitioners. The brief offered several religious perspectives, including Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and Unitarian Universalist, that supported Colorado’s law because they believe all children should be protected from harm and feel safe, included and supported.