The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, recently signed an executive order to ban conversion therapy on minors in the state. This was done to prevent harm done to LGBTQ+ youth through conversion therapy.
“Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential unless all of our citizens are free from discrimination,” Beshear said in a statement. “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God. And where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act,” he said.
Conversion therapy is a practice done with intent to change one’s orientation or gender identity through practices like shaming and aversion therapy. This is particularly harmful to the youth because it attempts to forcefully change one’s identity through counseling. This whole idea relies on the premise that someone’s gender identity or sexuality is flawed, and can be forcibly changed.
This form of therapy has been shown to be ineffective and dangerous. Conversion therapy has been generally frowned on by the medical community, especially in recent years. For example, the APA (American Psychological Association) issued a position statement in 2012 stating that conversion therapy doesn’t work and can be very harmful psychologically to youth. Furthermore, APA believes conversion therapy is against the principles of psychoanalytic treatment.
The APA also created a resolution on the topic that fully states their view on conversion therapy, saying, “the premise of SOCE [Sexual Orientation Change Efforts] is that same-gender attractions are a disorder that requires treatment and that such treatments change sexual orientation, which is contrary to scientific evidence.”
The Trevor Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ending suicide among LGBTQ+ youth, collects data on these issues. According to their 2023 survey, 28% of LGBTQ+ youth who attempted suicide in the past year were subjected to conversion therapy, 28% more were threatened with it, and 11% were neither threatened or subjected to it.
On the other side of this debate, some people view this ban as a restriction on their first amendment freedoms to speech and religion. David Walls, the executive director of the Family Foundation, issued a statement after Beshear signed the ban, saying that the order is “designed to promote false LGBTQ ideologies and muzzle Christian counselors, therapists, and pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity confusion.”
The Family Foundation also believes that this ban restricts parental rights, with Walls saying, “Kentucky parents and their children should be free to seek the faith based counseling on sexuality and identity issues that they need.” Their view is that the ban attempts to quash a religious worldview by preventing counselors from spreading their religious teachings on marriage, gender, and sexuality with minors.
Conservatives are attempting to fight the executive order, whether that be through the arguments above, or questioning the order’s constitutionality. Previously, a lawsuit against a similar ban was brought to the Federal Supreme Court, who declined to hear it, leaving the ban where it was. Other conservatives, like Republican Josh Calloway, have vowed to fight this ban with legislation, to “stop this Governor from pushing his harmful far-left agenda on struggling kids.”
So far, 23 states, along with Washington D.C. have chosen to ban conversion therapy on minors, starting with California in 2012. Lisa Willner, a licensed mental health professional who is also a member of the Kentucky General Assembly, is happy that the governor is making efforts to push LGBTQ+ rights forward, saying “this is a great step forward for the safety and mental health of so many young Kentuckians.” Virginia is one of the states with a ban in place, and no minor in the state can be forced to attend conversion therapy.
