Jared Polis Signs Conversion Therapy Malpractice Bill in Colorado
The new law allows conversion therapy survivors to sue for damages and removes the statute of limitations on malpractice claims.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed a law allowing survivors of conversion therapy to sue for damages under the state’s medical malpractice law.
Polis signed the bill on June 1, the first day of Pride Month, at The Center on Colfax, an LGBTQ community center in Denver, reports Colorado Newsline.
The Democratic governor also signed an executive order directing state agencies to ensure that no state funds are used to cover the cost of, or reimburse practitioners for, efforts to forcibly change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The new law allows people subjected to conversion therapy — whether through aversion therapy or “talk” therapy — to sue the therapists who subjected them to sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts, as well as the entities or supervisors who oversaw those therapists.
Unlike other forms of medical malpractice, which carry a two-year statute of limitations, the new law imposes no time limit on when conversion therapy survivors can pursue civil action against former therapists. It also allows claims to be filed on behalf of a deceased person within five years of their death.
“People shouldn’t be ripped off by those falsely claiming that they can change who you are attracted to or who you are,” Polis said in a statement. “In our Colorado for all, everyone can live authentically and should not be subject to hateful and ineffective conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is harmful, can traumatize kids, and is a scam that wastes people’s hard-earned money.”
The law was prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors. The court found that the law violated therapists’ free speech rights. Kaley Chiles, a Christian therapist who challenged the 2019 ban, argued that it prevented her from helping patients align their lives with sincerely held religious beliefs regarding sexuality.
In response, Democratic lawmakers sought to make conversion therapy more costly for practitioners by making it easier for former patients to bring lawsuits.
The law, sponsored by Rep. Alex Valdez (D-Denver), Rep. Karen McCormick (D-Hygiene), Sen. Lisa Cutter (D-Littleton), and Sen. Kyle Mullica (D-Northglenn), was overwhelmingly approved along party lines by both chambers of the Democratic-controlled legislature.
“This law is for all of the LGBTQ Coloradans who were told something about them that was wrong because of who they were or who they loved,” Valdez, who is gay, said in a statement. “With the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, we are committed to offering survivors of this harmful practice the protections they deserve.”
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