Colorado legislators introduced House Bill 26-1322 on March 31, 2026 to create a private right of action for individuals claiming injury from conversion therapy. The introduction came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-1 ruling striking down the state’s statutory ban on the practice, finding it violated the First Amendment. The bill aims to establish civil liability for mental health professionals who provide services aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, allowing former patients to sue for damages based on psychological injury.
The bill defines “sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts” as practices by a licensed mental health professional that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions toward individuals of the same sex. The bill removes the statute of limitations for any live plaintiff, allowing suits “at any time without limitation.” For claims brought on behalf of individuals who have died, a lawsuit can be initiated up to five years after the patient’s death. To succeed in a claim, a plaintiff must prove that the therapy was a “substantial factor” in causing their psychological injury or illness.
Legislative Rationale and Supreme Court Context
According to the bill’s formal documents, the legislature finds that harms from such therapy “often do not manifest until years or decades after the efforts occurred.” Survivors frequently fail to recognize such treatment as harmful and fail to connect their psychological injuries to the treatment until much later in life or are deterred from coming forward by shame instilled by the treatment itself. The legislation applies only to actions against licensed mental health professionals, not unlicensed counselors or religious figures.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado’s 2019 law banning licensed professionals from providing conversion therapy to minors violated free speech. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated the Colorado law “censors speech based on viewpoint.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter, arguing that the ban represented a proper standard of care regulation. State Rep. Alex Valdez, a lead sponsor, stated the legislation sends a message: “Conversion therapy doesn’t fix anything because nothing is broken. Colorado is making a statement that we will not make it easy to cause harm.”
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.naturalnews.com/2026-04-02-colorado-legislation-private-right-sue-conversion-therapy.html