There Is Nothing to Convert: On Yesterday's SCOTUS Ruling

A Statement from Ashley Clifton Therapy & Wellness

April 1, 2026

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Chiles v. Salazar that effectively dismantles the legal protections against conversion therapy that more than 20 states had put in place to protect LGBTQIA+ youth. I want to be direct about what this ruling means, and where I stand.

Conversion therapy is not therapy. It is not evidence-based. It is not ethical. Every major professional organization in mental health and medicine — the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and more — has unequivocally condemned these practices. The United Nations has classified conversion therapy as a form of torture. None of that has changed because of yesterday's ruling, and none of it ever will.

What makes this ruling particularly devastating is what it was built on. The therapist at the center of this case had not been prevented from doing anything — she was challenging a law based on what might happen. This sweeping, 8-1 decision, with implications for the entire country, was built on a hypothetical. And LGBTQIA+ young people across this country will bear the very real consequences.

As a Licensed Associate Counselor, as an integrative wellness professional, and as a queer person myself — I am telling you clearly and without hesitation: this practice has no place in ethical care. There is nothing to convert. There is nothing to fix. LGBTQIA+ identities are not pathology. They are not problems. They are people.

Ashley Clifton Therapy & Wellness is, and will always remain, fully queer and gender affirming. With every new piece of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation and every ruling like yesterday's, I will only become louder and more committed to showing up for this community — in my practice, in my voice, and in my advocacy.

To my queer clients, my queer colleagues, and queer community members in Arkansas and beyond:

I see you. I love you. And I am here for you.