WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a free-speech challenge to laws in Colorado, California and 20 other states that forbid licensed counselors from seeking to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors.

Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling.

More than 20 states restrict conversion therapy, which health providers say dangerously attempts to change young people’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a request from Wyoming and 18 other red states to block a handful of other states, including

The suits by the Democratic-led states, seeking monetary damages, generally accused the energy companies of creating a public nuisance or violating state laws by concealing from the public for decades the fact that burning fossil fuels would lead to climate change. The companies denied wrongdoing.

The justices declined to hear unusual arguments from Republican-led states that sought to end lawsuits against energy companies over their role in global warming.