Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear banned the use of “conversion therapy” on minors in Kentucky on Wednesday, calling his executive order an overdue step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. Over 20 other states that have passed laws prohibiting the controversial treatment.

The governor took action using his executive powers after efforts to enact a state law banning the practice repeatedly failed in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature.

“My faith teaches me that all children are children of God,” Beshear said during the signing ceremony at the Kentucky Statehouse. “And where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act. The practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ hurts our children.”

As Beshear prepared to sign the order, someone shouted his opposition, saying “this is a denial of affirmation therapy.” Activists for mental health and LGBTQ+ rights drowned out the protester with cheers.

The Family Foundation, a socially conservative group based in Kentucky, quickly denounced Beshear’s action, saying it tramples on the rights of parents and suppresses religious expression.

“This order, like previous failed legislative efforts, is designed to promote false LGBTQ ideologies and muzzle Christian counselors, therapists and pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity confusion,” David Walls, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

Anticipating such attacks, Beshear said his action “does not force an ideology on anybody.”

“It simply stops a so-called ‘therapy’ that the medical community says is wrong and hurts our children,” the governor said.

The executive order signed by Beshear bans the practice and makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide the therapy on minors. It also gives the state’s board of licensure the authority to take action against anyone found to have practiced conversion therapy on minors and gives the board the authority to bring disciplinary action against anyone found in violation of the order.

Such therapy has been discredited and is opposed by, among others, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, citing research that shows it leads to increased risk of suicide and depression.

The Supreme Court in Dec. 2023 declined to hear a case about conversion therapy. There is currently no national ban, but nearly half the states and the District of Columbia prohibit the use of conversion therapy with minors, Beshear’s office said. 

Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Harris’ running mate, issued an executive order in 2021 to ban conversion therapy in his home state of Minnesota, and in 2023, the state took things a step further by passing a law banning the practice.

Outside of the U.S., several countries — including Germany, France and Canada — have done away with the practice, but it remains legal in large portions of the world, according to a Statista map.

LGBTQ+ advocates celebrated Beshear’s executive order on Wednesday. 

In a statement posted online, Jaymes Black, CEO of the Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, said “this executive order serves as a powerful reminder that LGBTQ+ youth have allies and leaders who support them in every corner of our country.”

The nonprofit’s statement cited research from a peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health that found that LGBTQ+ young people who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, praised Beshear for taking bold action to protect Kentucky’s LGBTQ+ youth from what he called the harmful practice of conversion therapy. He said the governor’s action sent a clear message to Kentucky’s LGBTQ+ kids and their families: that “you are perfect as you are.”