Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear courageously bans "conversion therapy" on minors

The anti-LGBTQ procedure, often promoted by conservative Christians, is widely discredited and harmful

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What’s the point of being governor if you can’t use your power for good?

On Wednesday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear—one of the only Democrats running a “red” state—took that idea to heart when he signed an executive order banning “conversion therapy” on minors throughout the state.

Specifically, the order prohibits the use of state and federal funds for the harmful and unscientific idea. It also gives state agencies power to discipline anyone who engages in the practice during their training.

Gov. Andy Beshear signs the executive order banning “conversion therapy” on minors (screenshot via YouTube)

The order states very clearly:

The Commonwealth has a strong interest in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of all its citizens, including LGBTQ+ youth. The Commonwealth also has a significant interest in ensuring that state and federal funds are used for evidence-based services, and not for unethical, dangerous, and contraindicated practices that medical professionals find are not credible and oppose. Practices like conversion therapy risk harm to our youth.

Kentucky now joins 23 other states (and the District of Columbia) in banning the procedure for minors. The executive order came after repeated bipartisan attempts to pass similar legislation failed.

The reason for the ban is obvious: “Conversion therapy” doesn’t work. You can’t talk someone out of being gay or lesbian. You can’t force someone not to be transgender. There are countless stories of victims talking about how their experiences with “conversion therapy” amounted to torture. And yet the practice has been popular in conservative Christian circles for decades.

You may recall that there used to be a Christian ministry called “Exodus International” that formed in the 1970s to show the world that gay people could turn straight. It failed miserably. In 2013, the organization shut down after its leaders admitted none of it actually worked. Netflix later released a film (“Pray Away”) featuring several former Exodus officials, several of whom admitted they have always been gay (despite public statements to the contrary) and who also agreed that what Exodus did was harmful, if not outright torture.

The problem isn’t just the lack of any support that the procedure works. It’s the misguided belief that being gay is sinful, that acting on it is always immoral, and that anyone can change their orientation if they just give in to Jesus.

No state should be supporting, much less funding, something that unscientific and unethical.

According to a 2019 report from the UCLA-based Williams Institute, which focuses on gender and sexual orientation law and public policy, nearly 700,000 adults said they had received conversion therapy; half received it as children. Another 16,000 LGBTQ minors stood to receive it in states where the practice wasn’t banned.

There have been attempts to argue that the procedure works, including pointing to a scientific paper published in a legitimate journal, but that paper was soon retracted because of course it was.

There are also Christian ministries that promote “conversion therapy” while insisting they’re not doing anything wrong. Focus on the Family once put out a statement denouncing the harm of the practice… before, a paragraph later, saying they weren’t going to stop doing it:

… we believe in empowering individuals for health and realistic living toward their goals. For some, this includes therapeutically investigating their sexuality and exploring faith-compatible responses for their individual situation.  Of course, we recognize that our values aren’t everyone’s values. But we believe the availability of respectful, safe, ethical counseling in matters of sexuality honors all clients by allowing them to receive meaningful help that aligns with their values.

As usual, they couched their cruelty in the language of God’s supposed love, and it didn’t take a Ph.D. to read between the lines.

In fact, the same people who have long promoted “conversion therapy” are still doing everything they can to shove Jesus-fueled guilt onto LGBTQ people and steer public policy in a way that hurts LGBTQ people specifically.

After Beshear signed the executive order, one Republican lawmaker insisted he’d do everything in his power to reverse the impact. State Rep. Josh Calloway, a Baptist preacher, said Beshear was trying to keep LGBTQ kids “confused” and that he’d try to stop the governor’s “far-left agenda” and “egregious overreach” in the next legislative session:

(How he plans to pass such a bill when Beshear can veto it is anyone’s guess.)

Incidentally, Brandon Long, a Democrat running for the State Legislature who also happens to be a minister, responded to Calloway by saying in a tweet, “I was a struggling kid pushed toward conversion therapy, which I graciously survived. Trust me: NO one wants it unless they've been told they are wrong & need to be fixed.”

Other Republicans were also angry, saying in a laughable statement that “health care providers are at risk, and children will be left without needed mental health care.” As if they’ve ever been interested in providing health care.

The backlash wasn’t just limited to Republican bigots. Conservative Christian groups lashed out, too:

The Family Foundation, a socially conservative group in Kentucky, said Beshear’s order tramples on the rights of parents and suppresses religious expression. It referred to the ban as an “unlawful action,” perhaps signaling a legal challenge.

“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 group’s executive director, said in a statement.

The ban runs “roughshod over the First Amendment,” said Daniel Schmid, a legal executive with Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as a Christian ministry.

The ban is legal. Kentucky is hardly the first to pass policy on this. These people are just angry because their fictional solution to a fictional problem is bullshit and they’re being called out on it.

More importantly, there’s nothing in the executive order that prevents Christian pastors from spreading anti-LGBTQ hate. Pastors can still spread all the lies they want. They can promote conversion torture, too! They just won’t get reimbursed for it by the state—and they might get punished for it if they torture people in their professional capacities.

It’s telling that these people think a policy meant to protect children is muzzling Christians. As if they can’t practice their religion without torturing kids along the way.

In any case, the executive order is huge step forward, especially in Kentucky, and Beshear courageously signed the order despite the inevitable pushback from Christian bigots who take joy in making gay kids suffer.

As he said during the press conference, “This is not about red or blue. It is not about politics at all. And to me, it's not even about gender or sexuality. It's about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them.”

That’s what conservative Christians are complaining about. Inhumanity is apparently the basis of their faith.

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