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Fifty-One Percent

51%

Is conversion therapy free speech? The Supreme Court says yes

By Jesse King

Published April 2, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has struck down a ban on conversion therapy in Colorado, deciding the law violated the First Amendment protecting free speech. On this week’s 51%, we chat with Albany Law School’s Vin Bonventre about why the Supreme Court ruled the way it did, and what this means for similar bans in other states, including New York. WAMC’s Elias Guerra also speaks with a woman working to start the first Black trans-owned bookstore in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Guest: Vin Bonventre, Justice Robert H. Jackson Distinguished Professor at Albany Law School; Awa-Moon Barnett

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.
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Jesse King

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's former Hudson Valley bureau chief. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."

See stories by Jesse King

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