The US Supreme Court has ruled against a law in Colorado that bans so-called conversion therapy for lesbian, gay and transgender people.
It sided 8-1 with a therapist from Colorado Springs who argued that the state's restrictions violated her free speech rights guaranteed under the US Constitution's First Amendment.
Conversion therapy - which professional and health associations denounce but some religious conservatives promote - aims to encourage lesbian, gay and transgender people to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The justices ruled that lower courts had "erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous scrutiny" to restrictions on free speech.
Kaley Chiles, a licensed counsellor and practising Christian in Colorado Springs, argued the ban in her state interfered with her ability to treat individuals with "same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion" who "prioritise their faith above their feelings".
