FRANKFORT, Ky. (News First) – Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is banning the use of “conversion therapy” on minors in Kentucky. He signed an executive order Wednesday. The governor calls it a necessary step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. 

The governor used executive powers after efforts to enact a law banning the practice repeatedly failed in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature. The order bans the practice and makes it illegal to use state or federal funds to provide therapy on minors.