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DENVER, CO – The House Judiciary Committee today passed legislation to allow Coloradans to pursue a civil cause of action for damages related to conversion therapy. HB26-1322, sponsored by Representatives Alex Valdez and Karen McCormick, passed by a vote of 7-2.
“Conversion therapy is pseudoscience, and it has been proven to cause an increase in anxiety, depression and suicide,” said Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver. “This type of harm can have devastating, long-term impacts on the health of someone who never had anything to ‘fix’ in the first place. Our bill would allow LGBTQ+ Coloradans and their families to hold bad actors accountable for putting them through these harmful therapy sessions and prevent other Coloradans from having to experience these dangerous practices.”
“Conversion therapy does not change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and forcing people to try to change who they are has serious, long-term health impacts,” said Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont. “The LGBTQ+ community already faces higher rates of depression and suicide, and conversion therapy only increases those rates. With this bill, we’re ensuring that LGBTQ+ Coloradans can seek justice for the harm caused by conversion therapy.”
Beginning July 1, 2026, HB26-1322 would allow an individual who was subject to conversion therapy to bring a civil cause of action against certain professionals who cause damages from efforts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. These actions could be brought only against a licensed mental health professional who engages in conversion therapy, a person or entity that employed or supervised the professional and knew or should have known of the conduct, a person who does not try to prevent or stop the professional or a person who negligently hired or supervised the professional.
Currently, Colorado law requires claims to be filed within two years. The bill would remove this time restriction, and if the impacted individual has passed away, their representative could bring a survival action within five years of the individual’s death.
A 2024 report from the Trevor Project found that 14 percent LGBTQ+ youth in Colorado have been threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy.
In 2009, the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation concluded that conversion therapy is not likely to be successful and cause risk of depression, suicidality and anxiety. The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and many other mental health and medical organizations believe that conversion therapy is harmful and ineffective.
In 2019, Colorado Democrats passed a law to ban state-licensed medical or mental health care providers from providing conversion therapy to minors. The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing Chiles v. Salazar, a challenge to Colorado’s conversion ban law.