Therapy that aims to convince children they are not gay or transgender is now closer to being banned in Kentucky, after Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order on Sept. 18. It also bars the use of state funds for such therapy, directs the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and its offices to update materials to reflect the change, and tells other agencies under the supervision of the governor to “explore what further actions they can lawfully take to protect minors from the practice of conversion therapy.” Beshear’s order also encourages certification and licensing boards outside the government to explore banning the therapy, which is defined as “any practice, treatment, or intervention that seeks or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender.” The therapy does not include any practice, treatment, or intervention that “facilitates an individual’s coping, social support, and identity exploration and development,” provided they do not seek to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the order. “Where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act. The practice of so-called conversion therapy hurts our children,” Beshear, a Democrat, said in remarks before signing the order. “It has no basis in medicine. It has no basis in science.” Eric Russ, executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association, said in a statement released by the governor’s office that the order “will save lives by preventing this so-called treatment from being inflicted on any more children in Kentucky.” Supporters of the therapy say practitioners should be able to provide counseling to children reflecting their faith. “This order, like previous failed legislative efforts, 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,” David Walls, the executive director of the Family Foundation, said in a statement. Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal group, said the order infringes on the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Republican state Rep. Killian Timoney shook Beshear’s hand after the signing and expressed support for the ban. But another GOP lawmaker, state Rep. Josh Calloway, said the governor had defied the will of the Legislature, which isn’t scheduled to reconvene until January. “We are the lawmaking body, and laws should be made by people’s representatives,” Calloway said. Beshear said he won’t stop urging legislators to put the ban on conversion therapy into state law. “It is not about politics at all,” the governor said. “And to me, it’s not even about gender or sexuality. It’s about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them.” The law “is rationally related to Colorado’s interest in protecting minor patients seeking mental health care from obtaining ineffective and harmful therapeutic modalities,” U.S. Circuit Judge Veronica Rossman wrote for the majority of a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel. U.S. Circuit Judge Harris Hart said in a dissent that the law infringes on the First Amendment rights of Kaley Chiles, the Christian provider who brought the case.
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