Beshear signs executive order banning conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky • Kentucky Lantern

Calloway shared a screenshot of the email the governor’s office sent announcing the executive order and wrote, “Why is @AndyBeshearKY determined to confuse vulnerable children?”

“I will fight this with every fiber of my being,” Calloway wrote. “I am also exploring other legal options to stop these egregious attacks.”

Meanwhile, 12 Republican senators criticized Beshear for the order. They said:“disregards First Amendment rights of freedom of religion and speech and violates the fundamental rights and responsibilities of parents toward their children.”

“The Kentucky Supreme Court has repeatedly told the governor that he does not have the power to make policy in the Commonwealth. Once again, the governor is disregarding the Supreme Court, the General Assembly and the separation of powers doctrine,” these senators said in a statement. “The implementing regulation uses such vague and overly broad wording that health workers are at risk and children are left without the necessary psychiatric care.”

The following twelve Republican senators condemned Beshear’s actions: Senate President Robert Stivers, Manchester; Robby Mills, Henderson; Shelley Funke Frommeyer, Alexandria; Lindsey Tichenor, Smithfield; Whitney Westerfield, Fruit Hill; Gary Boswell, Owensboro; Donald Douglas, Nicholasville; Greg Elkins, Winchester; John Schickel, Union; Philip Wheeler, Pikeville; Majority Whip Mike Wilson, Bowling Green; Max Wise, Republican from Campbellsville.

Willner is “sure there will be efforts” to block the executive order, she told the Lantern.

“I think there are people who deliberately misunderstand what this is about and that this practice traumatizes people for decades, for the rest of their lives, and that it ends lives prematurely,” she said. “And that people misunderstand that is beyond disappointing. I will do everything I can to make sure that any effort to reverse this fails, and I really hope that will be the case.”

Protection “finally”

Mental health advocates in Kentucky praised Beshear’s action.

Sheila Schuster, executive director of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition, called the practice “torture” and was close to tears as she spoke alongside Beshear in the Capitol Rotunda.

Her coalition has listed ending conversion therapy as one of the legislature’s top priorities for nearly a decade, citing the “harm” the practice causes.

“We may not have been successful in the legislature, but that is not due to a lack of commitment from our heroes,” Schuster said.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said Beshear’s move will “save countless children’s lives in Kentucky.”

“Today, we all join Governor Beshear in sending a crystal clear message to all queer kids and their families in Kentucky,” Hartman said. “You are perfect just the way you are.”

Eric Russ, executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association, called conversion therapy a discredited practice that “has no place in the mental health care of LGBTQ youth.”

“We know that survivors of conversion therapy not only fail to change their sexual orientation, but also experience worse mental health outcomes, including self-blame, guilt, shame, anxiety and depression,” Russ said. “We know that the best thing we can do as mental health providers is to affirm the identities of the children in our care. When a child comes to the office of a licensed mental health professional with their family, we have an ethical obligation to provide them with supportive, evidence-based, sexual orientation-affirming treatment.”

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