WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed their opening brief Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Colorado licensed counselor Kaley Chiles, who wants to help young people grow comfortable with their bodies and avoid harmful drugs and procedures.
Many of Chiles’ clients come to her because they share her Christian faith. These clients believe their lives will be more fulfilling if they grow comfortable with their bodies rather than pursuing a path of harmful drugs or surgeries. Yet Colorado law censors Chiles from speaking words her clients want to hear and insists that counselors can only help young people by encouraging them to identify inconsistent with their sex. After Chiles filed a lawsuit challenging the law and a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled against her, ADF attorneys asked the nation’s high court to hear the case, which it agreed to do.
“The government has no business censoring private conversations between clients and counselors,” said ADF Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell. “There is a growing consensus around the world that adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria need love and an opportunity to talk through their struggles and feelings. Colorado’s law harms these young people by depriving them of caring and compassionate conversations with a counselor who helps them pursue the goals they desire.”
“We are eager to defend Kaley’s First Amendment rights and ensure that government officials don’t impose their ideology on private conversations between counselors and clients,” Campbell said.
Colorado’s law violates Chiles’ freedom of speech by prohibiting licensed counselors from engaging in counseling conversations with clients under age 18 who want to change some expression, behavior, identity, or feeling associated with their “sexual orientation or gender identity.” The law threatens severe penalties, including suspension and even revocation of the counselor’s license.
The brief filed in Chiles v. Salazar explains how the law only prohibits counseling conversations in one direction: “When counseling young people with gender dysphoria, Colorado allows Chiles to speak if she helps them embrace a transgender identity. But if those clients choose to align their sense of identity with their sex by growing comfortable with their bodies, Chiles must remain silent or risk losing her license, her livelihood, and the career she loves.”
“Counseling is vital speech that helps young people better understand themselves, their desires, their actions, and their identity,” the brief continues. “Colorado interjects itself into those conversations, silences views it dislikes, and tries to control what those kids believe about themselves and who they can become. Such priceless speech on such important issues lies at the First Amendment’s core. The Court should protect it.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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