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Less than an hour before a midnight deadline, the Republican-dominated Kentucky legislature approved a bill protecting the use of conversion therapy on minors in the state. The bill targeted an executive order signed last year by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Republicans enjoy a veto-proof supermajority in both houses of the Kentucky legislature and can easily override Beshear’s expected veto of the bill.
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The bill would overturn Executive Order 2024-632, signed last year on September 18 by Beshear. That order banned state or federal funding of conversion therapy in the state and used licensing boards to target providers who use the widely discredited practice on minors.
“Notwithstanding any state law or administrative regulation to the contrary, Executive Order 2024-632, prohibiting state and federal funds to be used for the practice of conversion therapy, shall not be valid as of the effective date of this Act,” the bill reads.
“Conversion therapy has been discredited by every major medical organization and significantly increases the chances of suicide in our LGBTQ+ youth,” Beshear posted to social media following the bill’s passage. “It has no place in our commonwealth or anywhere else.”
Beshear previously called out conversion therapy after he signed the executive order last year.
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“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,” Beshear said in a press release announcing the executive order in September. “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.”
Kentucky lawmakers have passed two major bills in recent years targeting the LGBTQ+ community. While Beshear opposed and vetoed both bills, Republicans quickly used their supermajorities to overturn his vetoes.
In March 2023, he vetoed an anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which included a ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, restricted discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and allowed the outing of LGBTQ+ students. Kentucky legislators overrode his veto.
In 2022, he vetoed a bill banning transgender girls and women from competing with and against cisgender females in school sports. Lawmakers again overrode Beshear’s veto.
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