An open letter to the Princetonian justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
As a professor at Princeton University, I am writing to express my profound disappointment and sense of betrayal regarding your recent vote to block the Colorado law protecting LGBTQ+ minors from the harmful practice of conversion therapy.
At Princeton, our guiding mission is “In the nation’s service and the service of humanity.” As educators, our primary goal is to provide students with the knowledge and moral clarity necessary to do good for the world and make positive, life-affirming contributions to society. We teach our students that their intellect is a tool for progress and the protection of human dignity — not a weapon to be used to roll back the safety of the vulnerable.
The practice of conversion therapy has been condemned by every major medical and mental health organization as not only ineffective but deeply damaging. To see our own graduates — individuals who walked these same halls and were tasked with the same mission of service —vote to allow such a practice to continue is a clear failure of the values we strive to instill.
Furthermore, the decision to release this ruling on March 31, International Transgender Day of Visibility, serves as a further insult to a community already under immense pressure. It is a day intended to celebrate existence and resilience; instead, this court chose that moment to signal that the “free speech” of those peddling discredited and harmful psychological practices outweighs the fundamental safety of LGBTQ+ youth.
Your votes go directly against the spirit of our university. You were educated to serve humanity; with this decision, you have failed to protect it.
Guillermo Sapiro Augustine Family Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
An open letter to the Princetonian justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
As a professor at Princeton University, I am writing to express my profound disappointment and sense of betrayal regarding your recent vote to block the Colorado law protecting LGBTQ+ minors from the harmful practice of conversion therapy.
At Princeton, our guiding mission is “In the nation’s service and the service of humanity.” As educators, our primary goal is to provide students with the knowledge and moral clarity necessary to do good for the world and make positive, life-affirming contributions to society. We teach our students that their intellect is a tool for progress and the protection of human dignity — not a weapon to be used to roll back the safety of the vulnerable.
The practice of conversion therapy has been condemned by every major medical and mental health organization as not only ineffective but deeply damaging. To see our own graduates — individuals who walked these same halls and were tasked with the same mission of service —vote to allow such a practice to continue is a clear failure of the values we strive to instill.
Furthermore, the decision to release this ruling on March 31, International Transgender Day of Visibility, serves as a further insult to a community already under immense pressure. It is a day intended to celebrate existence and resilience; instead, this court chose that moment to signal that the “free speech” of those peddling discredited and harmful psychological practices outweighs the fundamental safety of LGBTQ+ youth.
Your votes go directly against the spirit of our university. You were educated to serve humanity; with this decision, you have failed to protect it.
Guillermo Sapiro
Augustine Family Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering