Practitioners of conversion therapy would be protected in Kentucky under a bill that passed a state House committee Thursday, as long as it doesn’t inflict physical pain, involve “obscene materials” or require “lewd” conduct.
House Bill 495 refers to "protected counseling service," which it defines as counseling meant “to relieve discomfort or distress caused by an individual's sex or romantic or sexual attraction.” The sponsor GOP Rep. David Hale from Wellington called the legislation a “parental rights” bill, implying that it is particularly aimed at defending conversion therapy directed at children. The bill passed a committee vote on party lines.
Conversion therapy, sometimes called “reparative therapy,” refers to treatments that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It is often based on religious ideology that being LGBTQ+ is unnatural.
Mental health professionals and LGBTQ+ advocates spoke in strong opposition to the legislation. Several survivors of conversion therapy shared their own experiences with the practice, which has been rejected by major medical organizations.
Brandon Creech is a licensed clinical therapist from Richmond and also a survivor of conversion therapy starting at 17-years-old. He said he wouldn’t be alive today if he and his family hadn’t given up on conversion therapy in favor of an affirming therapist. He described the self-hatred, shame and guilt that haunted him while undergoing conversion therapy.
“Without a doubt, I would not be alive today if I had continued walking along the path of denying my authentic self,” Creech said. “While many of the scars incurred by my experiences with conversion therapy are indelible, they provide me with the passion to fight against these practices, especially by those who are licensed mental health professionals.”
The legislation would stop any state agency or local government, licensing authority, regulated health care institution or professional from taking “adverse action” against a professional for engaging in conversion therapy. That includes any disciplinary action or any reduction or denial or funding.
Hale said he disagreed with testimony that conversion therapy is not effective. He told lawmakers that parents should have the right to subject their children to therapy the parent deems necessary.
“Parents and guardians should have the right, if they so choose … to seek professional guidance, be it from a therapist, a counselor, a minister, a priest, a rabbi, without the threat of action taken against them or the individual providing those services,” Hale said.
The American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, American College of Physicians and American Counseling Association and several more have rejected conversion therapy as a practice.
The bill comes on the heels of an executive order signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear last year. The order prohibits the use of state or federal dollars to pay for conversion therapy, and encourages independent medical licensure boards to reconsider licenses or punish professionals engaging in conversion therapy.
Bobbie Glass, a transgender woman, told the committee that her former church community in Louisville likely thought of her as a conversion therapy success story. But she said it’s impossible to change who you are.
“‘You are abominable. You are deplorable. Nobody loves you. You are so abominable. Not even God loves you.’ That's what the message is, and that's the stuff your children are going to be living with,” Glass said, describing conversion therapy. “You wonder why they're depressed and wanting to leave home and get out of your household as fast as they can. It's because that's a message that you drill into them, and it is lifelong trauma.”
HB 495 also includes a provision to allow practitioners who feel they have been discriminated against to sue and recover damages and “appropriate relief,” including relicensure or reinstatement.
The legislation will now head to the House floor. It also has an emergency clause attached, meaning it would go into effect immediately, if passed into law.
