Gov. Andy Beshear signs an executive order banning conversion therapy
Gov. Andy Beshear signs an executive order banning conversion therapy on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda.
Kentucky took a step forward in protecting LGBTQ+ youth when Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order banning “conversion therapy” in the state. And while Oklahoma’s neighbors to the west have taken this step, the Sooner State still allows the widely discredited practice.
“This is not about red or blue,” Beshear said. “It is not about politics at all, and to me, it’s not even about gender or sexuality. It’s about protecting our youth from an incubate practice that hurts them.”
Kentucky joins 20 other states and regions that ban “conversion therapy”.
Oklahoma is one of 18 states that have no laws, or bans, surrounding the so-called practice which is usually used on minors whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual, according to data gathered by Movement Advancement Project (MAP), an independent, nonprofit think tank. Over the past several, Oklahoma lawmakers have passed bills that limit gender-affirming healthcare and teaching certain concepts around race and gender.
“Conversion therapy” is still widely practiced in the United States, even though it has been discredited and denounced by medical and psychological professionals all over the world.
What is ‘conversion therapy’?
“Conversion therapy” is the practice of trying to alter someone’s same-sex orientation through counseling, according to the American Psychological Association. This practice, also known as reparative therapy, is still widely used even though it has been discredited by major mental health organizations, like the APA, as it is based on the false premise that same-sex attraction is a mental disorder.
“Ever since the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its diagnostic manual in 1973, it has been widely known that someone’s minority sexual orientation is not a mental disorder to be ‘cured’ or ‘treated’,” reads an excerpt from the APA on the subject.
It is a practice that is used among all ages, but it is usually used in an attempt to stop same-sex attraction in adolescents.
According to the American Psychological Association, an estimated 698,000 LGBTQ+ adults have undergone these efforts, 350,000 as adolescents, as of January 2018.
What is the impact of ‘conversion therapy’?
For every “success” story that is touted by people who practice the so-called therapy, there are hundreds of people who have to deal with the aftermath of it, reports GLAAD.
A 2020 study by The Wiliams Institute found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people who experienced conversion therapy were almost twice as likely to think about and/or attempt suicide compared to peers who did not undergo it.
“Rather than being therapy, so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a minority stressor that reinforces stigma and conveys that being LGB is abnormal, sinful, and should be rejected,” said study senior author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “We found that people who undergo conversion therapy are at increased risk of suicide ideation and attempts. This is a devastating outcome that goes counter to the purpose of therapy.”
Where in the U.S. is conversion therapy practiced?
There are conversion therapy practitioners all over the United States, according to a report published by The Trevor Project in 2023.
The group that helps LGBTQ+ youth find resources or helps those in crisis identified more than 1,320 conversion therapy practitioners across 48 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, this includes 605 (46%) who hold active professional therapists licenses and 716 (54%) operating in a ministerial or religious capacity.
How many LGBTQ+ people live in Oklahoma?
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law’s Williams Institute compiled data on the LGBTQ+ community across the country, including specific numbers for each state.
In Oklahoma, about 3.8% of the state’s population identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community or an estimated 150,000 people.
That’s about 30,000 more people than the city of Norman.
The majority of Oklahoma’s queer population is white at 59%, according to the Williams Institute. Additionally, 12% are Latino, 9% are more than one race, 9% are American Indian and Alaska Native and 9% are Black.
In Oklahoma, 38% of its LGBTQ+ population are raising children.
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Publish date : 2024-09-20 08:23:00
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