Alliance Defending Freedom Offers Ludicrous ‘Talk Therapy’ Defense
Delray Beach, FL — As the U.S. Supreme Court hears Chiles v. Salazar on October 7, 2025—a case challenging state laws that protect minors from the psychological harm of so-called “conversion therapy”—Truth Wins Out (TWO) strongly urges the justices to uphold these mostly symbolic bans and reject the cynical and dishonest free speech arguments advanced by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
At stake in Chiles v. Salazar is whether states have the right to regulate licensed therapists who claim they can “cure” or “change” a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Such barbaric practices are rejected by every medical and mental health organization in America. The American Psychiatric Association says that attempts to change sexual orientation can lead to “anxiety, depression and self-destructive behavior.”
ADF, representing anti-LGBTQ therapist Kaley Chiles, argues that conversion therapy is merely “talk therapy” and thus constitutionally protected speech. Truth Wins Out counters that this claim is dangerously misleading.
“It’s patently absurd to compare a licensed therapist with ordinary speakers,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “They are not some random person shouting Bible verses on a street corner or a radio talk show host bellowing ill-informed opinions. A therapist is a regulated medical professional who has taken an oath to ‘first do no harm.’”
Besen is a leading expert who has investigated and debunked conversion therapy for more than two decades. He is the author of two books on the topic, Lies with a Straight Face: Exposing the Cranks and Cons Inside the Ex-Gay Industry (2023) and Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the ‘Ex-Gay’ Myth (2003). Truth Wins Out hosts, perhaps, the world’s largest original video catalogue debunking conversion therapy and “ex-gay” ministries. TWO also published the definitive work on former “ex-gay” leaders, To the Dark Side and Back, as well as a series of complementary video interviews with these former “ex-gay” spokespeople.
TWO has exposed many high-profile leaders as hypocritical frauds. The organization has highlighted that the “ex-gay” conversion industry is notorious for inappropriate sexual behavior, anger issues, professional misconduct and outright abuse.
“Conversion therapy is nothing, if not harm disguised as help by ideologues who are bilking their clients. These practices exploit fear, shame, and religious guilt while dressing up pseudoscience in the language of medicine. The results are predictable: depression, self-hatred, and too often suicide.”
A Dangerous Redefinition of “Speech”
Truth Wins Out emphasized that the question before the Court is not about free speech—it’s about medical malpractice. When therapists hang a professional license on their wall, they agree to abide by science-based standards of care. Conversion therapy, in contrast, is a discredited religious practice rooted in ideology, not evidence.
“Every credible medical and psychological association in America—from the American Psychiatric Association to the American Academy of Pediatrics—has stated unequivocally that efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are not only futile, but dangerous,” Besen said.
He drew a stark analogy to expose the absurdity of ADF’s position:
“If a cardiologist advised a heart attack patient to eat a steady diet of cheeseburgers, funnel cakes, and fries, it would also be speech. Yet, such crazy advice could be deadly, against best medical practice, and probably cost the doctor their license. No one in their right mind would defend this quack for exercising ‘free speech.’ The same rules should apply for conversion therapy.”
ADF’s “Talk Therapy” Defense: A Trojan Horse for Extremism
The Alliance Defending Freedom is on the Advisory Board of Project 2025. It is one of the nation’s most powerful Christian nationalist law firms, has built a decades-long record of attempting to roll back LGBTQ equality under the guise of “religious freedom” and “parental rights.” In Chiles v. Salazar, ADF is attempting to rebrand conversion therapy as benign conversation—a redefinition that could gut the regulatory authority of state medical boards nationwide.
“Calling it ‘talk therapy’ is a deceptive attempt to sanitize abuse,” Besen said. “This is not about helping clients find peace—it’s about imposing a theological worldview that treats LGBTQ identities as moral failings to be corrected. That is not therapy. It’s indoctrination.”
If the Supreme Court sides with ADF, it could open the floodgates to a host of other “speech-based” medical defenses. Doctors could claim a constitutional right to provide misinformation about vaccines, climate change, or reproductive health. “Such a ruling would turn medicine into a Wild West of ideological freelancing,” Besen warned.
“These are not theoretical harms,” Besen said. “We are talking about real kids, with real lives, who are being told by supposed professionals that their very existence is wrong. That kind of psychological assault leaves scars that last a lifetime.”
The Broader Stakes for Democracy and Public Health
Truth Wins Out situates Chiles v. Salazar within a broader campaign by the far right to dismantle the regulatory state and weaken science-based governance.
“This case isn’t just about conversion therapy,” Besen said. “It’s part of a larger movement to erode professional standards, discredit science, and replace it with religious dogma. If ADF wins, it won’t stop with therapy—it will move into medicine, education, and public policy. This is about who defines truth in America: trained experts or religious extremists.”
A Call for Courage from the Court
As the justices convene for oral arguments, Truth Wins Out calls upon the Supreme Court to recognize the clear distinction between free speech and professional misconduct.
“Freedom of speech is not a license to defraud or harm others,” Besen said. “The Constitution doesn’t protect quackery. It protects people from it.”
TWO urges the Court to affirm the rights of states to set evidence-based standards for mental health professionals and to protect minors from predatory pseudo-therapists masquerading as healers.
About Truth Wins Out
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.
