Mics Off, 6 Minutes Notice - Anti-Trans Kentucky Forced Detransition Bill Passes After Shameful Secret Meeting

On the final day in which such legislation could pass, Kentucky passed a gender affirming care ban for trans youth. They used dirty tactics to pass HB150, a bill which detransitions transgender teens.

Final vote count for HB150

Today in the Kentucky House of Representatives, a new anti-trans bill emerged. HB150, originally a “parents rights in education” bill, was secretly amended and a hearing was announced with the microphone off during the House lunch hour. Democrats only found out about the meeting when somebody tipped them off. The meeting was held within 6 minutes of announcing it and people physically had to run to hear the new bill, which was not given to the general public or announced online. Thanks to local reporter Olivia Krauth’s reporting, we know we know what is in the bill - she took pictures with her phone and posted them onto twitter. The bill, which combines Don’t Say Gay policies, forced outing, pronoun bans, and a gender affirming care ban for trans youth has one last cruel wrinkle: it tells doctors exactly how they are to medically detransition the trans teens under their care. It passed the House and was immediately rushed to the Senate for final passage, where it passed 30-7 on a nearly party line vote.

The bill itself contains several provisions and combines many anti-trans bills into a single, all-encompassing piece of legislation that targets many aspects of the lives of trans youth. One provision states that schools cannot adopt policies that “keep information confidential from parents,” a policy which will be used to forcibly out transgender students. Another states that school districts can’t require students to use any pronouns for trans students that do not conform to that student’s “biological sex.” The bill contains teaching bans on LGBTQ+ topics similar to Don’t Say Gay bills, would force schools to turn over student’s answers to private questionnaires and surveys, bans students from bathrooms not matching their gender identities, calls trans students in locker rooms “unsafe,” and bans gender affirming care for trans youth. Borrowing from South Dakota, one provision in particular is incredibly troubling: a forced detransition clause that tells doctors how to detransition teens in their care by “systematically reducing their hormones.”

See this clause here:

Forced detransition clause in SB150

The only reason we know what the provisions in this bill are is because of local reporter Olivia Krauth, the first to report that a secret hearing was about to commence on this anti-trans bill. SB150 was given absolutely no public notice and there was no time for the general public to organize against the bill. It was announced during the House lunch hour with the microphone off. Rep Herron, the state’s only LGBTQ+ elected lawmaker, stated that it was vey clear Republicans tried to do this with no Democrats present. Even with the secretive meeting, three people in the capitol who have testified against other anti-LGBTQ+ bills were able to show up. They spoke against a bill that wasn’t even made available to them or the general public with enough time to even scan it over. The committee then passed it 16-5 30 seconds after the witness testimony was over with no debate.

It moved to the House floor, where Democrats condemned the bill and the process that led to it. Representative Raymond called out the idea that the bill protected kids, saying that these kids “will not thank you” when they grow up. She looked down at the end of her speech, lip quivering and in tears, simply spoke, “I vote no.”

Representative Clerlynn Stevenson pointed out to the extreme hypocrisy in the bill. Typically, medical care bans are passed separately from Don’t Say Gay bills as there is too much contrast between a bill stating that parents have the right to direct their children’s upbringing and a bill that states parents have no right to direct their children’s medical care. Rep. Stevenson stated, “We have people screaming for parental rights and this tramples all of that. In one part of the bill, it says parents have the say. In another, it says parents have NO say. The word fiasco comes to mind.”

She pointed out that minutes earlier, 6 people who would go on to vote for this bill voted against a child abuse protection bill.

Perhaps the most animated speech was from Representative Pamela Stevenson, who called out its passage “in the heat of the night” and blasted Republicans for using religious justification for the bill:

Erin Reed @ErinInTheMorn

"He didn't say love one another except people of color, trans people, the disabled. He said LOVE everybody and yet we spend the whole time trying to destroy everybody. And if it wasn't destruction, why did you do it in the heat of the night? How dare you?"

The bill passed the state house 75-22 before moving to the Senate. There, it passed 30-7. It has been transmitted to Governor Beshear, a Democrat, who is expected to veto it. Republicans have enough votes to override the veto and enact it into law.

This bill represents one of the worst anti-trans laws to be passed in any state. Its far-reaching provisions will result in lives lost in Kentucky. Gender affirming care saves lives. Legislators brought up studies showing a 73% lower suicidality and a 40% lower rate of actual suicide attempts in the last year. None of these moved Republican legislators, who by and large were silent on the bill and did not defend their positions. One of the few who did, representative Richard White, called it “a sissy bill” and stated he wanted more.

Erin Reed @ErinInTheMorn

Rep White cruelly stands and says, "This is a sissy bill. I voted yes but I wanted more teeth in it." Holy hell how cruel.

Kentuckians must ask themselves if this is what they want from their legislature. Does 6-minute notice meetings held with no public notice in secretive fashion truly represent good legislation? Even those who agree with the bill should question the process in which it was passed. Rather than giving the public their chance to stand up and weigh in, Republicans opted to force through a bill that Kentucky voters do not want according to the latest polls. We will see if the legislators pay a price for this vote in elections to come. Until then, Kentucky becomes the 9th state to fully pass a gender affirming care ban through both state houses.