Colorado Gov. Polis Signs New Conversion Therapy Ban, Defying Supreme Court

The law uses a private right of action to bypass a recent SCOTUS ruling allowing conversion therapy.

The Center on Colfax

This week, Governor Jared Polis signed a landmark new conversion therapy ban bill into law—the first of its kind following the devastating Supreme Court ruling that legalized conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ people nationwide. The bill defies the ruling through a clever mechanism: rather than banning conversion therapy outright, it allows survivors to sue the practitioners who subjected them to it, using a private right of action—notably, the same legal mechanism first pioneered by Republicans to get around Roe v. Wade in Texas. The new law comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 8-1 decision in Chiles v. Salazar, which found Colorado's 2019 conversion therapy ban unconstitutional, effectively legalizing the discredited practice across the country. The law takes effect July 1, 2026. Once it takes effect, it should immediately make conversion therapy financially prohibitive in the state, as any practitioner who engages in it faces unlimited civil liability with no statute of limitations on claims.

The law targets what it defines as “sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts”—any practice by a licensed therapist that steers a patient toward a predetermined outcome regarding their sexual orientation or gender identity. That definition is deliberately outcome-based rather than viewpoint-based. The Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s 2019 ban because, they ruled, it restricted what therapists could say, declaring it viewpoint discrimination. The new law doesn’t restrict speech at all. Instead, creates civil liability for what therapists do to their patients. If a therapist practices conversion therapy on their patient, the patient can sue—for economic damages, noneconomic damages, and, if the conduct was willful, exemplary damages. There is no statute of limitations. The claim even survives the patient’s death, allowing families to bring suit for up to five years afterward. Importantly, the law protects affirming care and exempts it from lawsuits: any therapy that provides “acceptance, support, and understanding” or facilitates “identity exploration and development” as long as it does not steer towards a predetermined conclusion is shielded from liability.

The legal architecture should sound familiar. In 2021, Texas used a private right of action in SB 8 to effectively ban abortion while Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land. Rather than the government enforcing the ban, the law allowed any private citizen to sue anyone who performed or aided an abortion—and because there was no government actor to enjoin, courts couldn’t block it. Abortion access in Texas collapsed overnight. Kansas used the same mechanism in SB 244, which allows lawsuits against transgender people for using restrooms matching their gender identity. Colorado has now taken that same constitutional loophole and aimed it in the opposite direction. The government cannot ban conversion therapy after Chiles. But nothing in Chiles prevents a patient from suing a therapist who harmed them. The state isn’t punishing speech. Survivors are seeking accountability for injury—the same principle that has always allowed patients to sue doctors for malpractice.

The law was written to foreclose attempts to argue that affirming therapy is conversion therapy, a favorite claim by the far-right. Its definition targets therapists who steer patients toward “a predetermined outcome”—affirming a patient’s own self-understanding is, by definition, not a predetermined outcome imposed by the therapist. The carveouts are explicit and layered: therapy that is “neutral with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity,” therapy that facilitates a patient’s own “identity exploration and development,” and therapy related to a patient’s relationships or sexual behaviors are all protected, provided none of them steer toward a predetermined result. And the law’s causation standard requires courts to weigh the nature and intensity of the efforts, the patient’s age and vulnerability, the professional relationship, and expert testimony on the psychological effects of conversion therapy—a standard that is unlikely to be satisfied by anti-trans activists posing as medical experts in a state like Colorado.

Governor Polis chose to sign the law at The Center on Colfax, an LGBTQ community center in Denver, on the first day of Pride Month. After signing, he said in a statement: "People shouldn't be ripped off by those falsely claiming that they can change who you are attracted to or who you are. In our Colorado for all, everyone can live authentically, and should not be subject to hateful and simply ineffective conversion therapy. Conversion Therapy is harmful, can traumatize kids, and is a scam to waste people's hard-earned money." Polis also signed an accompanying executive order directing state agencies to ensure that no state funds are used for conversion therapy.

“It is critical that we as policymakers listen to trusted scientific organizations when they tell us a practice is harmful. For over a decade, we’ve known that ‘conversion therapy’ increases suicidality and exacerbates depression and anxiety for LGBTQ+ Coloradans,” said Senator Mullica in a statement. “In light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, it’s vital that we create avenues for those who have been subjected to ‘conversion therapy’ to get some justice.”

The new law will go into effect on July 1st.