Truth Wins Out issued a strong condemnation of today’s Supreme Court ruling, Chiles v. Salazar, a Colorado case that ends restrictions in 27 states on so-called “conversion therapy for minors,” allowing practitioners to operate under the dangerously misleading classification of “talk therapy.”
The organization warned that the decision enables discredited and destructive practices to persist, placing vulnerable LGBTQ individuals — particularly youth — at continued risk of psychological harm.
“This ruling is a profound failure of both logic and moral responsibility that confuses ‘free speech’ with ‘false speech’,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It opens the door for quackery to flourish and allows practitioners of a thoroughly debunked practice to continue harming LGBTQ youth under a thin veneer of legitimacy.”
In response to the ruling, TWO announced that it will intensify its efforts to expose conversion therapy providers. “We are not backing down. If anything, this ruling strengthens our resolve. We will continue to shine a light on these practices and fight for a world where LGBTQ people are affirmed, not ‘treated.’”
Conversion therapy, widely rejected by every major medical and mental health organization in the United States, purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Decades of research and survivor testimony have demonstrated that these practices are ineffective and often lead to severe mental health consequences, including depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide.
Truth Wins Out’s YouTube page offers the world’s largest video catalogue educating about the harm caused by “ex-gay” programs. TWO provides top resources from books and podcasts to studies debunking the “ex-gay” myth.
The court’s reasoning — that conversion therapy can be permissible if framed as “talk therapy” — was sharply criticized by Truth Wins Out as both scientifically illiterate and dangerously naive.
“The idea that this is harmless because it involves ‘talk’ is absurd,” Besen said. “Words can wound. Words can indoctrinate. Words can destroy a young person’s sense of self. Calling it ‘talk therapy’ doesn’t make it safe — it makes it more insidious.”
Besen compared the ruling’s logic to allowing medical malpractice under a different name. “We would never allow a cardiologist to tell a heart attack patient to eat three burgers a day with fries and call that ‘treatment,’” he said. “Encouraging conversion therapy is no different. It is harm disguised as help and malfeasance masquerading as medicine.”
Truth Wins Out emphasized that the ruling reflects a broader misunderstanding of how conversion therapy operates in practice. While often framed as benign counseling, these interventions frequently involve coercive messaging, shame-based techniques, and religious or ideological pressure designed to suppress or deny a person’s identity.
“Stripping away the label doesn’t change the reality,” Besen said. “These practices are rooted in the false premise that LGBTQ identities are disordered or inferior. That premise is not only wrong — it is dangerous.”
At the same time, Truth Wins Out acknowledged a more complex reality: that existing bans on conversion therapy, while important, have historically had limited practical impact on the persistence of these practices.
“Let’s be honest about what these laws have and have not accomplished,” Besen said. “Many of these bans were largely symbolic. They sent a powerful cultural message, but they did not fully eradicate conversion therapy. The practice simply adapted — moving underground, rebranding, or shifting into religious settings where regulations are weaker or nonexistent.”
In an interview last week with LGBTQ Nation, Besen noted that conversion therapy has proven remarkably resilient, in part because of its decentralized nature and its entrenchment within certain ideological and religious communities.
“What we’ve seen is that when one door closes, practitioners find another,” Besen said. “They change the language, they change the setting, but the underlying harm remains the same.”
The organization expressed concern about the ruling’s potential impact on families and young people, who may be misled into believing that these practices are safe or medically endorsed.
“When courts legitimize these practices, even indirectly, it creates confusion,” Besen said. “Parents may think they are helping their child by seeking out these services, when in reality they are exposing them to psychological harm.”
Truth Wins Out called for a renewed, multifaceted approach to combating conversion therapy — one that goes beyond legislative “bans” to address the cultural, educational, and ideological factors that sustain the practice.
“Laws are important, but they are not enough,” Besen said. “We need public education, survivor advocacy, and accountability within professional and religious communities. We need to expose these practices for what they are and support those who have been harmed by them.”
Besen continued: “The truth is, we put most of these organizations out of business before laws were passed, by discrediting the failed ‘Ex-gay Industry’. We will succeed again, because conversion programs fail 100% of the time and are fueled by extremism.”
Truth Wins Out urged medical and mental health professionals to speak out more assertively against conversion therapy, as well as the amplification of survivor stories.
“No court decision can change that fundamental truth,” Besen said. “The real danger lies in allowing outdated, discredited ideas to persist under new disguises. We will continue to challenge those ideas wherever they appear.”
Truth Wins Out is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that works to advance liberty and democracy, protect the rights of LGBTQ people and other minorities, combat religious extremism, and fight against the spread of disinformation.
