FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order on Wednesday in an effort to stop conversion therapy on kids in the state, but a legal expert confirms he can't within his powers truly ban the widely discredited practice.
To truly make it illegal, the state legislature would have to pass a bill into law.
Sam Marcosson, constitutional professor at the University of Louisville, tells WHAS11 the governor's executive order effectively avoids any wording that would open it up to legal challenge.
"It's very careful," Marcosson said. "He doesn't purport to make conversion therapy illegal."
What is conversion therapy?
Conversion therapy, described by the American Medical Association as "not based on medical or scientific evidence," is the practice of attempting to change a person's sexual orientation by using psychoanalysis, spiritual counseling and other methods.
An emotional Dustin Rayburn of Louisville, who went through conversion therapy when they were younger, described what they were feeling when Beshear announced his executive order.
"You know, I was just thinking that this isn't going to happen anymore. This is the first step to protect our youth," Rayburn said. "If I could just go back and tell my younger self that we'd be sitting here today -- it's just a crazy full-circle moment."
Rayburn continued, "The people that we really want to remember are the ones who couldn't be here today."
Beshear's executive order directs state agencies to pull funding -- and potentially suspend or revoke licenses -- from therapists reported and confirmed to be practicing conversion therapy.
"Instead, he encourages the licensing officials on boards for social workers and psychiatrists to adopt standards that would make engaging in conversion therapy an ethical violation," Marcosson explained.
On Wednesday, Kentucky lawmakers like Republican Rep. Josh Calloway told WHAS11, "legislation has been filed, [and] it's been rejected by the people's representatives."
"Affirmation is one thing that they say that we need to be doing. [But] on the other side, helping kids who are confused," Calloway said after Beshear's news conference at the Kentucky State Capitol.
Since 2020, 11 Kentucky House Republicans have at least co-sponsored a bill to make conversion therapy on minors illegal. None of these bills have seen significant movement toward passage.
"We're the lawmaking body. [Beshear] is not. We make laws," Calloway said.
Calloway joined a group of a dozen Kentucky Senate Republicans who expressed concern over Beshear's executive order in a joint statement, specifically on the issue of whether it violates freedom of speech.
“This executive order disregards the First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion and speech and violates the fundamental parental rights and responsibilities for their children," the statement reads. “The executive order uses such vague and overbroad language that health care providers are at risk, and children will be left without needed mental health care.”
The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention nonprofit organization, reports one out of five kids in Kentucky are exposed to conversion therapy.
State Rep. Killian Timoney, one of a handful of Republicans who've supported a conversion therapy ban, shook Beshear's hand after the news conference and thanked him for his effort.
"A majority of Republicans do support banning conversion therapy," Timoney said. "Because at the end of the day, the results show that it does increase suicidal ideation -- and that's something that we cannot have."
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams' office confirms it's filed Beshear's executive order, and it's now in effect.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.