On September 18th, 2024, the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, outlawed conversion therapy for minors in the state. Licensing boards can also take official action against anyone found practicing conversion therapy on minors. Beshear spoke about his decision saying the following:
“Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential unless it is free from discrimination by or against any citizen – unless all our people feel welcome in our spaces, free from unjust barriers and supported to be themselves… Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression. This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them.”
This is a tremendous step for the LGBTQ+ community, especially in Kentucky where attempts to ban conversion therapy repeatedly failed due to the Republican-controlled legislature. Beshear’s executive order challenges the barriers to equality.
Conversion therapy poses a massive threat to LGBTQ+ communities everywhere and is essentially psychological torture. It is founded on the discriminatory belief that queer people need to be “fixed” or that they suffer from a mental disorder. The American College of Physicians and the American Physiciatric Association released research stating that minors subjected to conversion therapy show higher rates of anxiety, depression, loss of social support, and suicidal behaviors. They have twice the rate of suicide attempts in the past year than other members of their community who have not experienced the inhumane treatment.
Currently, over 20 states prohibit it in the legislature, although no national ban exists. According to the Trevor Project, more than 1,300 practitioners still offer conversion therapy in the U.S. The Supreme Court had the opportunity to hear about the controversial treatment in 2023, but declined to do so.
In opposition to many religious groups who commonly use their faith as justification for violent and reprehensible actions, Andy Beshear expressed “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God.”
Some of Beshear’s other accomplishments include vetoing a bill that banned access to gender-affirming health care and restricted bathroom access, being the first standing Kentucky governor in history to participate in the Statewide Fairness Rally, and proclaimed June as Pride month for the first time in the Commonwealth, as reported by CBS News.
After the ban was finalized he tweeted, “We’ve heard the voices of LGBTQ Kentuckians and we stand with them. Today I was proud to sign an executive order banning dangerous conversion “therapy” on our kids. No child, regardless of their sexuality, should be subjected to harm.”
