Kentucky recently became the latest state to ban so-called "conversion therapy" when Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order prohibiting the counseling practice.
"The practice of so-called 'conversion therapy' or 'reparative therapy' is particularly harmful to LGBTQ+ youth," said the governor's office in a press statement. "Conversion therapy rests on the premise that an LGBTQ+ individual’s identity is pathological and can be 'repaired' or 'fixed.'"
But Dr. Quentin Van Meter, the former president of the American College of Pediatrics, says progressives' criticism is based on the cruel and misguided shock treatments that were used in the 1950s – a treatment he argues "does not exist anywhere today."
"But anything that looks at the mental health issues of the individual who is either same-sex attracted or confused about their gender identity – that is called 'conversion therapy,'" he tells AFN. "It's a strawman. So, first of all we can just say: There is no conversion therapy."
According to Van Meter, three generations of wider acceptance of same-sex attracted individuals has not improved the mental health of the same-sex attracted community at all.
"What is proven worldwide [however] is that counseling for the kids who are experiencing an incongruence of their gender identity and their biologic sex solves the problem in 80 to 90 percent of the individuals who go through it," he emphasizes.
Legal observers believe the ban should face a legal challenge, which Van Meter hopes will happen.
Last year Gov. Beshear vetoed a bill that banned access to gender-manipulation procedures for minors and limited bathroom access based on biological sex. Both chambers of Kentucky's legislature voted to override that veto.
