Kentucky
Expert: Kentucky conversion therapy ban will have ‘chilling effect’
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 25, 2024 / 07:00 am
In the wake of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signing an executive order banning “conversion therapy” for children, some experts are raising the alarm that the move could have a “chilling effect” on beneficial mental health counseling.
The order, signed by Beshear last week, defines conversion therapy as “any practice, treatment, or intervention that seeks or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender.”
The order prohibits state and federal funding for conversion therapy and counseling and gives state licensing boards authority to penalize practitioners offering such services to minors.
In a Sept. 18 press statement, the state’s Democratic governor said conversion therapy “has no basis in medicine or science, and it can cause significant long-term harm to our kids, including increased rates of suicide and depression.”
“Kentucky cannot possibly reach its full potential 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,” the governor said. “This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them.”
Free speech experts raise alarm
According to Liberty Counsel, a law firm specializing in religious freedom and free speech, the order’s broad definition of conversion therapy means that therapists are prohibited from simply counseling patients who want to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion.
The law firm also called the order an “unconstitutional” sidestep of the Kentucky Legislature after that branch of the state government has repeatedly protected children by rejecting attempts to enact an actual law banning counseling.
“Counseling for gender confusion is actually talk therapy,” Liberty Counsel said in a Sept. 19 press release. “Gov. Beshear’s order ignores minors with unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion and makes it illegal for them to get professional help to stop their mental distress.”
Daniel Schmid, an attorney with Liberty Counsel, told CNA that since only the legislature can ban conversion therapy the order is largely a “paper tiger” with little legal effect and cannot prohibit counseling.
Nevertheless, he said the order “creates a significant First Amendment problem” for counselors, children, and parents. He said the order will likely have a significant chilling effect on therapists who may be intimidated by the threat of losing their professional license.
“If you’re a licensed professional, loss of your license is loss of your livelihood,” he said. “If all you do is listen to the media or listen to what the governor said, which is that we’re prohibiting this and we’re going to come after the people who do it, that is a significant enough cause for concern for many counselors.”
“There may be counselors out there who say, ‘Well, I don’t like the idea in here that I could be referred for professional discipline.’ That’s, of course, a chill,” he said.
Conversion therapy bans
Currently, 28 states and the District of Columbia restrict or ban conversion therapy on minors, according to data gathered by the pro-LGBTQ think tank the Movement Advancement Project.
Melissa Moschella, a professor specializing in biomedical ethics and parental rights at the University of Notre Dame, told CNA that these bans effectively put a gag on therapists from seeking out the underlying causes of gender dysphoria and instead mandate “really bad therapy.”
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“A lot of the support for these bans, at least initially, came from horror stories about electroshock therapy for people with same-sex attraction and things like that,” she explained. “But now the term conversion therapy is defined so broadly that it basically means any form of therapy that doesn’t completely affirm and support either a same-sex attraction or a transgender identity.”
Moschella said there is “no evidence at all” that so-called conversion therapy, which she said seeks to explore the underlying mental health issues surrounding gender, increases suicidality or exacerbates mental health problems. On the contrary, she said this type of therapy appears to be “the only therapy that in the long run actually seems to help.”
Ultimately, Moschella said these bans will “make it much harder” for parents to find good therapists and will “require a great deal of courage” on the part of therapists to offer genuine counseling to children suffering from gender dysphoria.
Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Kentucky
Fayette County school board chair, KEA sue to block Kentucky law that would oust current members
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Fayette County Board of Education Chair Tyler Murphy and the Kentucky Education Association have filed a lawsuit challenging a newly enacted Kentucky law that would overhaul the governance structure of Fayette County Public Schools and force all current board members out of office at the end of 2026.
The lawsuit names the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Fayette County Board of Elections and Fayette County election officials as defendants.
At the center of the legal challenge is Senate Bill 4, which lawmakers passed over Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto earlier this year.
Under the law, the seven-member Fayette County Board of Education would be reduced to five district-based seats, the lawsuit reads. The terms of all current board members would end Dec. 31, 2026, and new elections would be held for the restructured board.
The lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional and asks the court to block its implementation, including any election-related actions tied to the measure.
Court filings contend the legislation unlawfully targets a single school district and interferes with the terms of duly elected local officials. Plaintiffs also argue the law violates provisions of the Kentucky Constitution governing local elections and public officeholders.
Attorneys included exhibits detailing criticism of Murphy and Fayette County Public Schools leadership from state lawmakers, including a petition seeking Murphy’s removal and a letter from state Sen. Chris McDaniel calling for the resignations of Murphy and Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.
The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the law is invalid and requests expedited review from the court due to upcoming election deadlines.
No hearing date had been announced as of Wednesday.
The lawsuit comes as Fayette County Public Schools continues to face scrutiny over budgeting decisions, district spending and governance issues that have drawn attention from state lawmakers over the past year.
In a statement, Representative Matt Lockett criticized Murphy as he highlighted what he stated are district failures under Murphy.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to distract from the disaster that Fayette County Public Schools is under Tyler Murphy’s leadership as board chair. Under his watch, the district has spiraled into a financial crisis so severe that it is now seeking to borrow up to $110 million simply to keep the lights on and make it through the school year. Students have been failed. Families have been failed. Teachers and staff have been failed. Taxpayers have been failed. And the Lexington community has been left paying the price for years of mismanagement and poor oversight.
Rather than taking responsibility for the district’s financial failures and focusing on what is best for students, he has chosen to file a lawsuit challenging a law that was duly passed by the General Assembly and enacted through the constitutional process. He may be emboldened by recent rulings by activist judges, but there are no legitimate grounds for overturning a duly enacted statute simply because you can’t do the right thing by this community. The General Assembly has both the authority and the responsibility to establish standards for public offices and governance structures across the Commonwealth.
At a time when Fayette County schools are facing unprecedented financial turmoil, the focus should be on accountability, transparency, and fixing the problems that have brought the district to this point. The only filing Fayette County taxpayers should be expecting from Mr. Murphy is his resignation.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has been causing fear around the world, and a Lexington doctor is preparing in the event a case is found in Kentucky.
According to the CDC, there have been 49 deaths and over 300 confirmed cases across the two countries, with more suspected cases still being investigated.
UK Healthcare is working to become a Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment Center through the National Special Pathogen System, which would allow the facility to treat Ebola patients in-house.
Dr. Nicholas Van Sickels, an infectious disease physician at UK Healthcare, said the current outbreak is serious, but Kentucky residents are not at significant risk.
“Ebola scares people just because of the mortality, the death rate, associated with it and some of the long term consequences when you do survive. Fortunately, the strain that we’re seeing in Eastern (Democratic Republic of Congo) is thought to be not as deadly, but either way it’s a very serious disease. It carries a lot of stigma and fear,” Van Sickels said.
Here in Kentucky, however, is a very safe environment, Dr. Van Sickels said.
Currently, Dr. Van Sickels says UK Healthcare operates as an assessment hospital, meaning it can evaluate patients with symptoms who have traveled to regions with active outbreaks, coordinate testing with the state, and transfer patients to higher-level care centers if needed.
Once the Level 2 designation is complete, UK Healthcare will be the only facility in Kentucky with that capability.
“We’re the only facility in Kentucky that is able to have a level 2 designation once we finish this grant award and get approved,” Dr. Van Sickels said.
In January 2026, UK Healthcare received a grant from the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC), the governing body of the National Special Pathogen System.
“It’s approximately half a million dollars to transform our institution,” Van Sickels said.
The funding has been used to run simulation drills in coordination with Lexington Fire, EMS, and the state health department. The grant also enabled UK Healthcare to upgrade its protective outerwear, with all seam points covered to provide additional protection. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids.
During a recent site visit and simulation, evaluators identified vulnerabilities in the facility’s previous protective suits.
“When we had our site visit and had our stimulation, for example, they said that the seams that we had on our old suits, you could pull and stretch, and that they were rather porous,” Van Sickels said.
Van Sickels had been working on the preparedness project since the beginning of the year.
Citing lessons learned from the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, which spread to the U.S. and resulted in 4 cases and 1 death.
“Ebola 2014 taught a lot of hospitals in the US about high consequence infections, established what is now NETEC, the educating body for our country, uh, about high consequence pathogens,” Van Sickels said.
“We’re constantly wanting to push preparedness, uh, because that is the key to success in evading further outbreaks,” Van Sickels said.
UK Healthcare expects to complete its Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment Center designation by the end of summer.
The Kentucky Wildcats have had some fits with West Virginia over the past few days, as the baseball team was sent home by the Mountaineers on Monday night. Now, they have flipped a Wildcat commit.
Bryian Duncan Jr., a Cario, Georgia native, committed to the Wildcats in March and has now flipped to West Virginia. The 3-star running back had a recent visit to Morgantown, then announced his commitment to the Mountaineers.
Duncan, a 5-foot-9 player who can play out wide and at running back, is the No. 60-ranked ATH in the nation and the No. 89 player in Georgia, according to 247 Sports. He’ll play in the Big 12 with the Mountaineers, giving himself a good opportunity to become a true gadget guy with legit speed.
This isn’t a big disappointment for the Wildcats, as they’ll collect nearly 10 commitments as the summer rolls on and already have a pretty loaded RB room for the class of 2027. Kelsey Gerald and Mason Ball are two tailbacks who have already pledged their commitment to the program.
Head coach Will Stein and Co. have been stellar on the recruiting trail as they have the 13th-best class overall and the fourth-ranked class in the SEC, according to 247 Sports. Expect the Cats to pick up a few more commits here soon and rise in the rankings.
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