Colorado governor signs law protecting LGBTQ+ kids from conversion therapy. Again

On the heels of a court decision that Colorado LGBTQ+ advocates worried weakened protections against so-called “conversion therapy” in the state, a new law signed Monday will codify protections against the widely debunked practice.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, joined elected officials in Denver Monday morning to sign into law HB26-1322, a bill that bans therapists in the state from imposing a “predetermined outcome” around sexual orientation or gender identity onto a young patient.

The bill was passed by Democrats in the Colorado statehouse last month, and Polis signed the bill on the first day of Pride Month.

“Conversion Therapy is harmful, can traumatize kids, and is a scam to waste people's hard-earned money,” Polis, who is gay, said in a Monday press release. “This new law provides Coloradans who have been subject to this dehumanizing treatment with the tools to heal and move on to live strong, healthy and authentic lives.”

Related: Colorado quickly rewrites & passes new conversion therapy ban to get around Supreme Court ruling

Colorado state lawmakers championed the bill after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy was not “viewpoint neutral.” Colorado Democrats said the new bill modifies language around the state’s previous conversion therapy laws to ensure that LGBTQ+ residents retain protection from the practice.

“While the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Colorado’s conversion therapy ban law is deeply harmful, we’re not giving up the fight to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Coloradans,” said Colorado Rep. Karen McCormick, a Democrat from Boulder County and sponsor of the bill. “With this new law, we’re ensuring that LGBTQ+ Coloradans can seek justice for the harm caused by conversion therapy.”

The law also extends the statute of limitations for cases of malpractice tied to conversion therapy, giving survivors more time to pursue legal and financial claims.

Related: Kids can be subjected to harmful 'conversion therapy,’ U.S. Supreme Court rules

“This law recognizes that real harm can be inflicted in the name of therapy, and that this harm might not be fully understood for many years,” said Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Democrat representing Jefferson County and sponsor of the bill. “We are simply allowing people to have the time to process and understand the trauma that might have been inflicted, and seek the remedies already available to them under Colorado law."

Meanwhile, Polis also signed an executive order Monday ordering that state agencies take steps to ensure no state funding is spent on conversion therapy.

“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 our Colorado for all, everyone can live authentically, and should not be subject to hateful and simply ineffective conversion therapy.”