California’s Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday, which overturned Colorado’s prohibition on conversion therapy for minors. He labeled the practice as “junk science” and cautioned that the ruling might jeopardize the safety of vulnerable youth.

Expressing his disapproval on X, Newsom remarked, “Conversion therapy is a debunked pseudoscience that harms LGBTQ youth. The Supreme Court’s verdict is disheartening and places at-risk children in harm’s way.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch, representing the majority opinion, asserted that the law inappropriately targets speech based on its ideological content, categorizing therapeutic dialogue as protected speech rather than a form of regulated medical treatment.

More than 20 states, including California, prohibit licensed therapists from performing conversion therapy on minors. California became the first state to ban conversion therapy for minors in 2012. 

The law makes it illegal for licensed mental health professionals to try to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. California’s law does not apply to adults and does not regulate religious counseling.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said the law improperly targets speech based on ideology, framing counseling conversations as protected expression rather than regulated medical conduct. 

“We do not doubt that the question ‘how best to help minors’ struggling with issues of gender identity or sexual orientation is presently a subject of ‘fierce public debate,’” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority in a 23-page opinion.

“But Colorado’s law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint. Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same,” Gorsuch added.

The ruling reverses a lower court decision and could open the door to challenges against similar laws nationwide.

Conversion therapy — a practice aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — has been widely criticized by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, which have linked it to depression, anxiety and increased suicide risk among LGBTQ youth.

Gorsuch countered during oral arguments that scientific understandings change over time, noting that homosexuality in the 1970s was generally seen as a mental health disorder.

In a lone dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued that states should retain authority to regulate harmful medical practices, warning the decision could weaken protections for patients.

Newsom, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ rights, has often pointed to his personal ties to the community, including his transgender godson, Nats Getty, a designer and activist who publicly came out as a trans man in 2021. 

The governor has referenced Getty in defending policies aimed at protecting transgender Californians.

“I have a trans godson — there’s no governor that’s signed more pro-trans legislation than and no one has been a stronger advocate for the LGBT community,” Newsom said on the Ezra Klein podcast.

Legal experts say Tuesday’s ruling is likely to trigger new challenges to California’s law and others like it, setting up a broader legal fight over the balance between free speech, religious liberty and protections for LGBTQ youth.

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