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the trevor project
LGBTQ+ Kentuckians Cheer as Beshear Bans 'Conversion Therapy' for Kids
"The draconian and deadly practice... is nothing more than physical, mental, and emotional torture," said the head of the National Association of Social Workers' Kentucky chapter.
Sep 18, 2024
LGBTQ+ rights advocates celebrated on Wednesday after Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order banning "conversion therapy" for minors across the state, citing medical experts' warnings about the dangerous practice that attempts to change a person's gender identity or sexual orientation.
"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 statement. "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."
Specifically, as Beshear's order details:
According to a 2021 survey by the Trevor Project, 75% of LGBTQ+ youth in America reported that they had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity at least once in their lifetime. The Trevor Project's 2023 survey reported that 60% of LGBTQ+ youth in America reported that they had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity within the prior year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that LGBTQ+ youth face significant health disparities compared to their peers. The Kentucky Medical Association opposes conversion therapy in its policy manual.
In the 2023 survey by the Trevor Project, 15% of LGBTQ+ youth reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy. In that same survey, 41% of LGBTQ+ youth reported seriously considering attempting suicide in the past year and 14% reported they had attempted suicide in the past year. Of those LGBTQ+ who had attempted suicide, 28% reported having been threatened with conversion therapy and 28% reported having been subjected to conversion therapy.
Kentucky on Wednesday joined 23 other states and the District of Columbia in fully banning the practice for minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Four other states plus Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, have partial bans for youth.
"We applaud Gov. Andy Beshear for his bold and necessary action to protect Kentucky's LGBTQ youth from the harmful practice of conversion therapy," said Fairness Campaign executive director Chris Hartman in a statement. "Today Gov. Beshear sends a crystal-clear message to all of Kentucky's LGBTQ kids and their families—you are perfect as you are."
While some Republican lawmakers in the state opposed Beshear's order and vowed to fight it, mental health leaders offered praise. Kentucky Mental Health Coalition's Dr. Sheila Schuster and Kentucky Psychological Association's Eric Russ both welcomed the move, with Russ declaring that it "will save lives."
Brenda Rosen, head of the National Association of Social Workers' Kentucky chapter, similarly cheered the ban, stressing that "the draconian and deadly practice of 'conversation therapy'... is nothing more than physical, mental, and emotional torture."
"We celebrate with individuals and communities across Kentucky and are eternally grateful that during September's National Suicide and Prevention Month, Kentucky is powering forward to save the lives of our youth and ensuring that our LGBTQ+ citizens know they are loved and valued in the Bluegrass state," Rosen said. "Thank you, Gov. Beshear, for your steadfast commitment to ensuring that Kentucky leads in compassion, kindness, and integrity."
The order was also praised by national advocates, including Born Perfect, a survivor-led campaign by the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
"We applaud Gov. Beshear's leadership in protecting LGBTQ youth and their families from so-called conversion therapy, which has been rejected as unethical and harmful by every leading medical and mental health association in the country," Born Perfect co-founder Mathew Shurka. "This is a landmark day for Kentuckians and survivors across the state."
As the Lexington Herald-Leaderreported Wednesday:
The move from Beshear comes as legislative efforts to ban conversion therapy have floundered—with those efforts coming primarily from Democrats—and as GOP efforts to limit the rights of trans youth have ramped up.
In 2023, Republicans proposed a raft of anti-LGBTQ bills, including [a] ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth against the advice from Kentucky doctors who warned of the harm it would bring. That policy became law last summer.
Months later, during the 2023 race for the Kentucky governor's mansion, then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron ran a gubernatorial campaign against Beshear that hinged largely on an anti-trans sentiment.
The U.S. Supreme Court—which has a right-wing supermajority—has agreed to take up a challenge to Tennessee's 2023 ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth. Its ruling next session is expected to impact policies across the country.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988, or through chat at 988lifeline.org.The Trevor Project, which serves LGBTQ+ youth, can be reached at 1-866-488-7386, by texting "START" to 678-678, or through chat at TheTrevorProject.org. Both offer 24/7, free, and confidential support.
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In Win for LGBTQ+ Youth, Supreme Court Rejects 'Conversion Therapy' Case
"Even with today's victory, there is still a long road ahead to ending conversion therapy," asserted one campaigner.
Dec 11, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a lawsuit challenging Washington state's ban on the harmful practice of so-called "conversion therapy" for minors, a move welcomed by LGBTQ+ rights advocates.
The nation's highest court rejected an appeal from Washington, where the 2018 law prohibiting therapists from attempting to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity has been upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Although right-wing Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomasdissented, their votes fell one shy of the four needed to get the case on the court's shortlist for full review.
"We hope that lawmakers take the court's decision today as an opportunity to implement vital protections against this practice."
"The court's decision today to allow these protections to stand in place sends an affirming message to LGBTQ+ youth, their families, and survivors while honoring the victims we've lost to this abusive practice," said Janson Wu, senior director for state advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicides by young queer people.
"Protecting LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy is not controversial, yet there remain too many states [that] have yet to enact legislative protections," Wu added. "Even with today's victory, there is still a long road ahead to ending conversion therapy. We hope that lawmakers take the court's decision today as an opportunity to implement vital protections against this practice."
According toSCOTUSblog:
The conversion therapy question came to the Supreme Court in the case of Brian Tingley, a Washington marriage and family counselor. Tingley went to court in 2021 to challenge a state law, known as Senate Bill 5722, that added conversion therapy—the practice of seeking to change a declined person's sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling—for minors to the list of violations that can lead to the loss of a therapist's license. Tingley argued that the law violates the First Amendment because it would limit his right to speak freely when counseling his younger clients on issues relating to sexual orientation or gender identity.
Conversion therapy—which is often Christian in nature, with a heavy focus on "praying away the gay"—is a discredited practice that is fully bannedfor minors in 22 states and Washington, D.C., plus over 100 municipalities. Countries and territories including Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Taiwan have also banned the practice.
Minors who undergo conversion therapy often suffer severe mental trauma as a result. LGBTQ+ children subjected to the practice are nearly three times likelier to attempt suicide. One study found that more than 6 in 10 children tried to kill themselves after a therapist attempted to change their sexual orientation.
"Conversion therapy is not a 'free speech' issue, it is torture, and has been
deemed torture by experts. Full stop," said David Badash, founder and editor of The New Civil Rights Movement. "Reporters both-sidesing today's refusal by SCOTUS to take up a conversion therapy law challenge need to get this accurate."
"If your heart surgeon uses methods proven to not work, cause lifelong damage, and are not condoned by medical experts or organizations, would that be a free speech issue?" he added. "Same thing."
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988, or through chat at 988lifeline.org.The Trevor Project, which serves LGBTQ+ youth, can be reached at 1-866-488-7386, by texting "START" to 678-678, or through chat at TheTrevorProject.org. Both offer 24/7, free, and confidential support.
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South Dakota Governor Signs 'Cruel and Dangerous' Trans Sports Ban
"Sports is my life," said Kris Wilka, a middle school athlete affected by the ban. "My world revolves around football, and I don't know if I would be able to function without it."
Feb 04, 2022
LGBTQ+ rights advocates on Thursday condemned a new South Dakota law banning transgender students from playing on sports teams matching their gender identity.
"This legislation isn't solving an actual problem that South Dakota was facing: It is discrimination, plain and simple. Shame on Gov. Noem."
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican with 2024 presidential aspirations, cited "fairness" as she signed S.B. 46, which mandates that scholastic sports teams from the kindergarten through collegiate levels be segregated by sex assigned at birth.
Mark Miller, Noem's chief of staff and lead counsel, last month likened transgender athletes' participation on school sports teams that match their gender identity to "terrorism."
"You see it elsewhere and don't want it to get to South Dakota," he said.
The ACLU tweeted Thursday that "this cruel and dangerous bill is part of a coordinated attack on trans youth moving nationwide."
\u201cAZ, IN, and MO are all moving forward legislation that attacks trans student-athletes, and bills that ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. Politicians across the nation are trying to send the message that trans people don't belong in their communities, exactly as they are.\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1643925871
S.B. 46, which is the first bill of its kind to be signed into law this year, is set to take effect on July 1, although implementation could be delayed by legal challenges.
A second anti-trans measure, H.B. 1005, which would bar transgender students from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity, was passed Tuesday by the South Dakota House and was sent to the state Senate for consideration.
Kris Wilka, a 14-year-old transgender boy who plays football for Harrisburg North Middle School in Sioux Falls, will be banned from his team if the new law takes effect.
"Sports is my life," Wilka toldNBC News. "My world revolves around football, and I don't know if I would be able to function without it."
\u201c"There aren\u2019t more than a handful of kids in South Dakota to whom these sports laws would apply, according to the ACLU of South Dakota\u2019s Jett Jonelis. These bills are solutions in search of a problem that does not exist."\nhttps://t.co/FzaINiJFdC\u201d— The Trevor Project (@The Trevor Project) 1643927700
Human Rights Campaign state legislative director and senior counsel Cathryn Oakley said in a statement that "instead of focusing on the real issues affecting the people of South Dakota, Gov. Noem and anti-LGBTQ+ state legislators continue their relentless, baseless, and patently discriminatory attacks against transgender kids."
"They show no shame," she continued. "The governor's eagerness to pass a bill attacking transgender kids reveals that her national political aspirations override any sense of responsibility she has to fulfill her oath to protect South Dakotans."
\u201cSouth Dakota just became the 1st state in 2022 to ban trans youth athletes. There is nothing fair about the "fairness" bill - it does nothing to protect girls' sports, and directly harms children who simply want to play sports with their friends. https://t.co/qLWdYPqjsl\u201d— Athlete Ally (@Athlete Ally) 1643927757
"Gov. Noem and South Dakota legislators need to stop playing games with vulnerable children," Oakley added. "Transgender children are children. They deserve the ability to play with their friends. This legislation isn't solving an actual problem that South Dakota was facing: It is discrimination, plain and simple. Shame on Gov. Noem."
According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 250 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation were introduced in 31 U.S. states last year, with 17 new laws enacted in 10 states.
\u201cOur heart goes out to trans youth and their families in South Dakota, as it is poised to become the first state to enact a trans athlete ban. We know this moment is unspeakably painful, and we will keep fighting alongside you to ensure youth everywhere maintain the right to play.\u201d— TransgenderLawCenter (@TransgenderLawCenter) 1643846890
Hoera Kingi is an Oglala Lakota and Ngati Kahungunu transgender two-spirit woman. The non-binary two-spirit identity has been acknowledged and revered by Indigenous peoples for centuries before white invaders conquered what is now South Dakota.
Testifying against S.B. 46 last month, the former high school cheerleader said that not being able to compete on sports teams "would've been devastating to me."
"It would've stopped me from meeting my favorite people and [making] my most cherished memories," she added.
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