Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) took executive action Wednesday to ban conversion therapy for minors in the state, skirting the state’s Legislature, which has on multiple occasions failed to send similar bills to the governor’s desk.

“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. This is about protecting our youth from an inhumane practice that hurts them,” Beshear said in a statement on Wednesday.

“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,” said Beshear, the only Democratic governor of a Southern state.

Previous attempts to ban conversion therapy — a discredited practice that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — in Kentucky have stalled or failed in the state’s........

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