The Drip Cafe in Denver, Colorado, was attacked by LGBT activists even before it opened for business

It’s not surprising that a homosexual governor, like Colorado’s Jared Polis, would put a high priority on promoting his personal LGBT ideology.

Democrat lawmakers and officials in the leftist state have been fully in support of his agenda, imposing pro-LGBT speech and belief requirements on cake bakers, web designers, counselors and more.

But it’s also not surprising the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down that state’s agenda, over and over, most recently in a case involving Christian counselors, costing its residents millions of dollars in wasted legal fees and costs. The state demanded that counselors promote the LGBT ideology to clients, but were they were forbidden from speaking in opposition to that, even when that was in the client’s best interests.

It appears the state has a longer learning curve than has so far been allowed: It is moving forward on a list of new speech code requirements and censorship obligations for counselors.

According to a report at the Washington Stand, Polis has signed a bill and issued an order expanding “a civil cause of action against and bars state funding from so-called ‘conversion therapy.'”

The report explains, “Colorado was not about to give its counselors free rein to seek the best interests of young people.”

In that decision involving counselors, the Supreme noted, the term “conversion therapy” can refer to “physical techniques such as electric shock therapy aimed at changing an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” but the Colorado law “reaches further, forbidding ‘any practice or treatment … that attempts … to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,’” including simply talk therapy.

The Washington Stand noted, “Such a bait-and-switch has become commonplace. In recent years, dozens of progressive jurisdictions have adopted measures banning conversion therapy, even though the discredited procedures are no longer performed. However, ‘conversion therapy’ laws like Colorado’s are written broadly enough to sweep up simple talk therapy — which is frequently practiced. Effectively, these progressive jurisdictions have banned counseling that helps a person leave a homosexual or transgender lifestyle, while permitting counseling that helps them embrace these lifestyles.”

The high court said, “Colorado’s law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint. Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety, but the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth.”

Even two of the three liberals on the high court agreed.

So Colorado is retaliating, with “Civil Actions for Conversion Therapy Survivors Act.”

The report noted, “The obvious purpose of expanding the right of civil action for those who encountered counseling unfriendly to the LGBT agenda.”

Colorado simply edited some terms in its law with “more neutral-sounding definitions.”

“For instance, the old version of the law defined ‘conversion therapy’ as: ‘any practice or treatment by a licensee, registrant, or certificate holder that attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.'”

The new version? “Any practice or treatment by a licensed mental health-care provider that seeks to direct a patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity outcome, or eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of a particular sex or gender, regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity the patient is directed toward.”

And Democrats in the legislature created new exemptions, including “counseling or therapy that provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a patient or facilitates a patient’s coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, without seeking to direct the patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity outcome.”

Also, “Counseling or therapy that is neutral with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity and that does not seek to direct the patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity outcome.”

The Washington Stand pointed out, “In crafting these new definitions and exemptions, the Colorado legislature was clearly trying to out-maneuver potential legal challenges by writing Kaley Chiles, the victorious plaintiff of the previous lawsuit, out of the law. As the Supreme Court noted in its opinion, ‘Chiles ‘does not begin counseling’ on any topic ‘with any predetermined goals’ but ‘seeks to help her clients reach their own stated objectives.’ Voila, the law now only applies to those with ‘predetermined’ goals.”

The law also provides for an expanded “right of civil action,” intended to be used for civil lawsuits, and even extends that right beyond death.

Polis signed the law “as a recognition of LGBT Pride Month,” in which he uses the resources of the state to promote his personal ideology.

Further, he ordered “no state funds are allocated or spent by their respective agencies for sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts,” and defined those actions by the definitions used for the “conversion therapy” ban.

The report noted when people do succeed in leaving their LGBT lifestyle choices, “it demonstrates that the LGBT identity categories are not, in fact, immutable, as activists like to claim. And if these categories are not immutable, then the decisions people make to assume these identities must be treated as individual choices, not as civil rights classes.”

Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is currently a news editor for the WND News Center, and also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.