A federal appeals court has issued a major blow against bans on conversion therapy for youth by ruling they violate the First Amendment, setting up a split within the judiciary that could lead the U.S.
Supreme Court to adjudicate the issue on a nationwide basis. In a 2-1 decision written by U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant, a three-judge panel on the U.S.
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta determined municipal bans on conversion therapy for youth in the cities of Boca Raton and Palm Beach in Florida contravene the freedom of speech under the First Amendment. “We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial,” Grant writes. “But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech.