[Washington, D.C.] – Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) and the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Chiles v. Salazar on behalf of transgender, nonbinary, and cisgender survivors of conversion therapy as the case heads to the U.S. Supreme Court.  

“In the national debate over conversion therapy, trans voices are often erased,” said Shayna Medley, Counsel of Record for the amici and Senior Staff Attorney at A4TE. “But trans people are uniquely and disproportionately harmed by these practices. These so-called therapies cause lasting trauma, increase the risk of suicide, and have no place in ethical mental health care. Upholding Colorado’s law will save lives and protect youth across the country.” 

“This case is about whether states have the power to protect young people from a practice that is both discredited and deeply harmful. Colorado’s law reflects the overwhelming medical consensus—and the lived experiences of conversion therapy survivors like our clients—that conversion therapy goes against standards of care. The Court should make clear that the Constitution does not protect practices that endanger children under the guise of treatment, and that states have the right to safeguard LGBTQ+ youth from such dangerous practices,” said co-counsel Eric Abrams of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. 

The amici include seventeen LGBTQ+ survivors of conversion therapy and the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network (CTSN), a survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to uniting survivors of conversion therapy and building a support network to address the harmful effects of these practices. Amici endured conversion therapy often as minors and at the hands of licensed mental health providers. Their accounts describe coercion by parents or religious communities, humiliation, forced medical interventions, and even self-harm “assignments” meant to instill shame. Survivors report long-term impacts including PTSD, depression, suicidal ideation, and a lasting mistrust of medical professionals.

“I was terrified to be who I was because I knew how many relationships I would lose,” said Mx. Cairn Journey Yakey, who is a nonbinary, licensed professional counselor in Colorado and amicus in the brief. “Conversion therapy left me afraid and ashamed to be who I truly was.” 

The friend-of-the-court brief centers the harm faced by trans youth, who are often erased from the public debate, it reflects the united voices of survivors across the LGBTQ+ community calling an end to these practices. The brief urges the Court to allow Colorado’s Minor Conversion Therapy Law to stand, which prohibits licensed providers from subjecting minors to harmful, discredited abuses targeting a young person’s identity. The brief emphasizes that conversion therapy does not change a person’s identity but reliably causes harm. Community support and access to healthcare in accordance with professional standards — not attempts to suppress identity — is what enables LGBTQ+ youth to thrive. Our clients’ stories bring this reality to life, showing how these harms are not abstract, but rather deeply personal, lasting, and disproportionately carried by trans youth who face relentless pressure to conform to gender stereotypes.  

“The stakes in this case are life and death for youth and families nationwide,” said Curtis Lopez-Galloway, founder of the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network. “When I was young, I was traumatized by the very therapy that we are trying to ban across the nation. Had these bans been in place then, they would have protected me.”   

A4TE’s brief urges the Court to affirm the lower court’s decision, noting that over 20 states have enacted protections against conversion practices. The filing underscores that survivors’ lived experiences provide critical, first-hand evidence of the urgent need to protect LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy. 

ECBAWM attorneys Katherine Rosenfeld and Eric Abrams represent the amici, with Shayna Medley, Ezra Cukor, and Cathy Zhang of A4TE as co-counsel.