Rep. David Hale, listens to questions from lawmakers about HB 495. In an interview with the Lantern, Hale mentioned Gov. Andy Beshear’s order banning conversion therapy as part of his rationale for sponsoring the bill. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)
This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
FRANKFORT — Kentucky lawmakers would endanger vulnerable minors by approving a bill to protect conversion therapy, warned a coalition representing psychologists, social workers and the LGBTQ community during a committee hearing Thursday.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear banned the controversial practice last year but House Bill 495 would appear to override the governor’s executive order.
Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, the bill’s primary sponsor, dismissed opponents’ arguments, including personal testimony from speakers who told stories of experiencing abuse and harm from conversion therapy themselves.
Hale told lawmakers on the House State Government Committee he wanted to protect counselors, therapists and pastors providing therapy to minors from discriminatory actions by the government, empowering parents to make choices on what kind of therapist a minor sees. The bill specifically protects mental health services seeking to relieve “discomfort or distress caused by an individual’s sex or romantic or sexual attraction.”
“The parents, in my opinion, have the right and the privilege of seeking whatever help they feel is best, necessary for that child,” Hale told lawmakers.
Hale didn’t specifically mention conversion therapy in his testimony. In a Lantern interview after the committee approved the bill 15-4 on party lines, Hale mentioned Democrat Beshear’s executive order as a part of his reasoning for filing the bill. He said he worked with a couple of organizations to craft the bill’s language but declined to name those organizations.
Calling it a “dangerous” practice,” Beshear last year issued an executive order banning conversion therapy. He was slammed by Republicans who said he was constitutionally overreaching and pushing a far-left agenda. Conversion therapy attempts to alter a young person’s gender expression or sexual attractions.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is among the medical and psychological organizations that have condemned conversion therapy. AACAP has stated conversion therapies “lack scientific credibility and clinical utility” and there’s “evidence that such interventions are harmful.”
The American Psychological Association has stated people who have undergone “sexual orientation change efforts” are significantly more likely to be depressed and suicidal. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988.
Eric Gunn, the executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association and a licensed clinical psychologist, said HB 495 “directly threatens the trust between a mental health provider and our clients” by protecting those who practice conversion therapy, something that is “widely discredited” and had no place in the mental health care of LGBTQ youth.
The Rev. Brandon Long, an ordained minister from Fort Thomas who spoke against the bill, recounted his experience as a survivor of conversion therapy. After he had shared with others that he was gay, he said he was told in secular and religious settings that his same sex attraction was caused by childhood trauma, poor parenting and “demonic influence.”
“I do believe in forgiveness and repentance, but conversion therapy weaponizes these sacred pastoral practices,” Long said. “Because this is not pastoral care. It is spiritual and psychological abuse. Religious liberty is not absolute. It ends where harm begins. That’s why we do not allow human sacrifice or child marriage in worship.”
Brenda Rosen, the executive director of the Kentucky chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, urged lawmakers to work together to help minors with the mental health challenges they face through an approach based on “acceptance and support.”
Chris Hartman, the executive director of the LGBTQ-rights group Fairness Campaign, questioned why HB 495 was being heard in a committee dealing with state government when he said the bill deals with mental health services.
“Few practices destroy families and hurt LGBTQ youth more than what’s considered conversion therapy, which is defined in a positive light in this bill,” Hartman said.
The minority of Democrats on the committee strongly condemned the legislation and echoed the concerns of the opponents. Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, mentioned his Christian faith in explaining his opposition, pointing to Bible scripture about loving oneself.
“I am an absolutely, firmly, resounding ‘no’ on this bill because to me, it breaches all of the things that my faith teaches me,” Watkins said.
Some Republicans on the committee suggested the bill offers broad protection for counselors going beyond conversion therapy. Rep. Susan Witten, R-Louisville, argued the bill would also include protections for “mental health care professionals that would be pro-LGBTQ therapy, or gender-affirming care.”
“I don’t see anywhere in here where it would choose a type of therapy,” said Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy. “I don’t think it prohibits affirming care. It doesn’t authorize conversion therapy.”
Hale had said to lawmakers he believed the testimony from opponents was “not correct.” When asked by the Lantern about opponents’ personal testimony, Hale said he had found “no evidence” in his research to substantiate the types of personal testimony shared by opponents.
After the bill passed the committee on party lines, Hale got up from his seat to shake hands with some of the bill’s opponents. Long refused to shake hands with Hale, telling him “you don’t believe I exist.”
“He’s looking at us telling our stories, to then frame on the record that, ‘I do not believe these individuals,’” Long said. “In other words, they are lying. And that is of the utmost disrespect for ourselves, for our lives, for our experiences coming and putting it forth on the record.”
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