FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Republican-controlled legislature has recently approved a controversial bill encompassing two divisive measures related to LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare for transgender individuals. The bill, passed just moments before the midnight session deadline, includes provisions to protect the practice of conversion therapy and to prohibit the use of Medicaid funds for gender-affirming healthcare for transgender citizens of Kentucky.
The passage of this bill came after accepting the Senate’s version, which specifically targets Medicaid funding, ensuring the GOP-majority legislature retains the power to override any potential veto from the Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear. Conversion therapy, a practice condemned by medical authorities as harmful and ineffective, is back on the table due to this legislative push.
Last year, Governor Beshear had issued an executive order banning state funding for conversion therapy for minors. He justified the ban by highlighting the dangers the practice poses to young lives. The order also urged licensing boards to consider strict disciplinary measures against practitioners involved in conversion therapy on minors. However, recent legislative action has effectively canceled these protections.
Both chambers of the legislature passed the measure by margins large enough to override a gubernatorial veto. The decision has provoked strong opposition from LGBTQ+ advocates. Chris Hartman of the Fairness Campaign criticized the bill as a “shameful” piece of legislation. Democratic Representative Lisa Willner echoed this sentiment, describing conversion therapy as a practice that promotes dangerous outcomes, including suicide.
David Walls, from the socially conservative Family Foundation, defended the legislative move as necessary to counteract what he perceives as an infringement on free speech and religious liberty posed by Beshear’s executive order. The primary proponent of the bill in the House, Representative David Hale, asserted the bill empowers families to choose the mental health services they prefer and argued for shielding such services from discrimination.
This Kentucky bill arrives in the context of a broader national debate over LGBTQ+ rights, highlighted by a pending Supreme Court case centered on conversion therapy bans.
Governor Beshear, considered a potential future presidential candidate, has vehemently criticized the bill, labeling conversion therapy as akin to torture, with a substantial risk of increasing suicide rates among LGBTQ+ youths. He implores that children deserve protection.
Regarding bans on Medicaid funds for gender-affirming healthcare, Beshear insists that health decisions should rest with medical experts, devoid of political influence. Nonetheless, the newly passed bill also affects incarcerated transgender individuals in Kentucky by restricting access to gender-affirming treatments, which supporters of the bill argue should not be taxpayer-funded.
David Walls endorsed the bill, calling it outrageous for taxpayers to cover gender transition procedures, especially for those who have committed crimes. On the contrary, Hartman denounced the bill’s impact on transgender inmates’ access to necessary medication as both cruel and unconstitutional.
In her closing remarks on the floor, Democratic Representative Sarah Stalker lamented that the legislature focused on such measures instead of addressing critical issues like employment, healthcare, education, and housing.