By: The Editorial Board - wsj.com - October 6, 2025

Colorado responds that she’s “overreading” the law, claiming that none of what Ms. Chiles says she wants to do is banned. Rather, the state prohibits a range of treatments—“from electric shocks, to hypnosis, to role-playing, to cognitive behavioral therapies”—if they’re done in an effort to alter a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation. The state argues such “conversion therapy” is harmful, substandard healthcare, even if it involves only talking.

But the plain text of the law appears broader than Colorado now prefers to admit. “A therapist treating a minor who seeks to understand whether they identify as a girl or boy should help that patient explore that question,” the state says. Explore how? Ms. Chiles believes that most children with gender dysphoria before puberty eventually resolve those feelings. In that case, she’s in a bind.