• Sign Up
    • Yearly by Check
    • Monthly Recurring
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Account
  • Log In
The Hendersonian
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Business
    • Local
    • Police
    • Politics
    • Schools
    • Science
    • Sports
    • State
    • World
    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    BRIEFS: HCPL hosts Veterans Resource Fair; City High class of ’75 reunion; HPD wants help finding car thieves

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

    Trending Tags

  • Tech
    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

    Trending Tags

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports

    Henderson joins West Kentucky Film Commission with hopes of luring movie makers here

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    No Kentucky Home, Part 4: A missing bench comes to symbolize missing solutions to homelessness

    No Kentucky Home, Part 3: A church called its vision for housing a ‘Beacon of Hope.’ The mayor had concerns.

    No Kentucky Home, Part 2: After living outdoors for weeks, she got a place to sleep, a shower — and a job

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

    Flying through ATL this travel season? Lucky you

    Flying through ATL this travel season? Lucky you

    Trending Tags

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Business
    • Local
    • Police
    • Politics
    • Schools
    • Science
    • Sports
    • State
    • World
    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    BRIEFS: HCPL hosts Veterans Resource Fair; City High class of ’75 reunion; HPD wants help finding car thieves

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

    Trending Tags

  • Tech
    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

    Trending Tags

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports

    Henderson joins West Kentucky Film Commission with hopes of luring movie makers here

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    No Kentucky Home, Part 4: A missing bench comes to symbolize missing solutions to homelessness

    No Kentucky Home, Part 3: A church called its vision for housing a ‘Beacon of Hope.’ The mayor had concerns.

    No Kentucky Home, Part 2: After living outdoors for weeks, she got a place to sleep, a shower — and a job

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

    Flying through ATL this travel season? Lucky you

    Flying through ATL this travel season? Lucky you

    Trending Tags

No Result
View All Result
The Hendersonian
No Result
View All Result
Home News State

‘We will not be erased:’ LGBTQ+ Kentuckians rally for fairness in Capitol 

Sarah Ladd by Sarah Ladd
March 11, 2025
in State
0
0
SHARES
149
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern

Gov. Andy Beshear plans to veto a bill that would undo his executive order restricting conversion therapy in Kentucky, should it pass the legislature and reach his desk.  

He made the promise at the 2025 Fairness Rally, held in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday. Beshear, who made history in 2020 as the first sitting governor to attend a fairness rally, called conversion therapy “torture.” 

“It has been discredited, and it should not be happening in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Beshear said, to cheers from the crowd gathered. The Republican-controlled legislature has the votes to easily overturn any veto. 

Conversion therapy is a discredited practice that attempts to alter a person’s sexuality. Specifically, it attempts to alter gender expression and sexual attraction that diverges from heterosexual normativity, “with the specific aim to promote heterosexuality as a preferable outcome,” according to the The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.” 

In 2024, Beshear signed an executive order aimed at ending the practice on Kentucky minors. Speaking Tuesday, he touted his record on LGBTQ+ issues, including vetoing the 2023 Senate Bill 150, which banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. He called the legislation, which became law despite his veto, “the nastiest piece of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that this state had ever seen.” 

“I know a lot of people are scared right now about what the president is going to do next, and your rights being in danger,” Beshear said. “To our LGBTQ Kentuckians, we’re here for you. We see you, we love you and we support you.” 

When introducing Beshear, Chris Hartman, the executive director for the Fairness Campaign, praised him for appearing at every Fairness Rally since becoming governor.

“He’s the most pro-equality governor in the history of the commonwealth of Kentucky and if we are lucky,  he just might be the most pro-equality president,” Hartman said.

The crowd cheered and chanted “Andy, Andy, Andy” to this.

Beshear was joined by a slate of Democratic politicians, lawmakers and advocates who criticized other bills they said are discriminatory toward the LGBTQ+ community and called on more LGBTQ+ people to run for office. Speakers included Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Senate Minority Leader Gerald Neal, Senate Minority Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, Lexington Councilwoman Emma Curtis, Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, and others. 

In addition to the conversion therapy bill, the Fairness Campaign opposes Senate Bill 2, a high-priority bill that would bar the use of public funds to offer gender-affirming care to transgender inmates in Kentucky, affecting about 67 people.

Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said those in support of legislation to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public institutions “are trying to figure out who they do not want in their society” and “trying to legislate a way to keep you out.” 

“These people who are writing … these bills, trying to get them passed through our Senate, are bigots. They are racists, they are homophobic and they are misogynists,”  said Berg, who lost her transgender son in 2022 to suicide. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. 

“But we do not give up. We do not give in. We keep marching. We keep showing up, we keep being proud of who we are, because that is what God wants us to do,” Berg added. 

Sen. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, lamented the anti-DEI bill making its way through the legislature, saying a few hours after the rally she would have to “go debate something that should not even be on the table.” 

“This work is difficult. It’s hard,” added Herron, Kentucky’s first openly LGBTQ+ female senator. “This is our civil rights movement. This is our time to show up. This is our time to organize. This is our time to stand together.” 

Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, said the DEI and conversion therapy bills are “designed to be cruel” and “to inflict harm and to put people in a box or to put them back in their place.” 

“These measures don’t just threaten policies. They threaten people — real lives, real families,” said Camuel. “The anti-diversity, equity and inclusion bill isn’t just an attack on programs. It’s an attempt to erase the beautiful diversity that makes our community strong. And the conversion therapy bill, it is an attempt to make you hide your true self, the very thing that makes you and our commonwealth so very special.”

Carma Bell Marshall, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2024 and was the first Black openly transgender person to run, said “change is slow, but it is inevitable, because the truth is on our side” and “humanity is on our side.” 

“Right now, in Kentucky and across this country, we are witnessing attacks on trans lives in the form of cruel legislation, policies designed to erase, to silence, to make us feel small,” said Marshall. “But let me tell you something: we are not small, we are not weak and we will not be erased.”  

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Previous Post

Surprise 107-page bill wins House OK, would make it easier to lower Kentucky income tax

Next Post

Jailer gets approval to continue plan to build a 100-bed addition

Sarah Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Next Post
Jailer gets approval to continue plan to build a 100-bed addition

Jailer gets approval to continue plan to build a 100-bed addition

Recent News

Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

May 31, 2025

BRIEFS: HCPL hosts Veterans Resource Fair; City High class of ’75 reunion; HPD wants help finding car thieves

May 31, 2025
WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

May 31, 2025
Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

May 31, 2025
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Account
  • Log In

© 2025 The Hendersonian • Henderson, KY 42420

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Login

© 2025 The Hendersonian • Henderson, KY 42420