The executive order, signed Wednesday by Gov. Andy Beshear, makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide what he calls conversion therapy on minors.
The order also gives state licensing boards the authority to take disciplinary action against licensees found to have practiced conversion therapy on minors.
"Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential,” the Governor said in a press release, “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.”
"It really is disappointing to see our governor once again overreach with an unlawful executive order," David Walls, of Kentucky Family Foundation, tells AFN.
Kentucky’s state lawmakers have tried several times to pass a so-called conversation therapy ban, Walls advises, but that effort has repeatedly failed in the Republican-controlled legislature and even lost support over time.
“Because, as we know, this issue is really about infringing upon religious freedom," says Walls. "It's about infringing upon the freedom of speech and association, and it's really about infringing upon parental rights."
Jonathan Alexandre, senior counsel at Liberty Counsel, tells AFN lawsuits are likely coming to fight Gov. Beshear’s executive order.
Beshear cites his religious faith to ban it
Similar to declaring your state a “sanctuary” for illegal aliens, or welcoming women to your abortion-friendly state, banning “conversion therapy” has become a popular goal for LGBT-allied Democrats going back several years.
Before signing the executive order this week, Beshear has attended a gay-rights rally at the statehouse and defended so-called "gender-affirming care" for youths.
Citing the issues of depression and suicide, the argument is that youths struggling with their sexuality are harmed worse by visiting a licensed counselor whose faith-based counseling criticizes the practice of homosexuality.
Despite an executive order that effectively bans faith-based counseling, Gov. Beshear brazenly used religion to defend his order.
“My faith teaches me that all children are children of God,” Beshear said at a signing ceremony at the Kentucky Capitol. “And where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act."
To be clear, Walls says the ban illegally blocks a church pastor or a priest from sitting down with an child or teen who voluntarily seeks their help.
"We believe Kentucky parents and their children should be free to seek counseling, including faith-based Christian counseling on issues of sexuality and identity when they need to do so," Walls tells AFN.
