LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Last year, Jenifer Alonzo and Brian Wells' daughter, Fischer Wells, fought for her right to stay on the Westport Middle School's field hockey team.
At the time, a bill that would block transgender athletes, like Fischer, from playing on a sports team not associated with their gender assigned at birth was making its way through Frankfort.
"It makes me wish that we were still talking about field hockey," Alonzo said.
The couple wasn't fully prepared to hear a year later that their child could now be barred from being who they are.
"After last year, you know, we had a sense of this stuff was a possibility," Wells said.
The latest bill in a slew of legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community would penalize doctors and mental health care workers for providing gender-affirming services to anyone under the age of 18.
House Bill 470 was introduced in Frankfort on Tuesday.
It would also strip health care and mental health care providers of their license if they provide the gender-affirming services. Health care providers could also be charged with a felony if they give the services and fail to report it.
If passed, Fischer and many other young transgender Kentuckians would no longer be able to talk to a therapist, receive hormone blockers or any service that helps in any way.
"Keeping this from being an option, this is, is actually what is harmful," Wells said. "The kind of critical thing about puberty is it's a wonderful time for you to discover your identity."
Eric Russ, executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association, says therapists are often families like Fischer's first stop in seeking guidance -- often just someone who understands.
"The fact that we are now worried about clinicians having to hide their work with a population under the threat of losing their license or being arrested, sets a really chilling precedent," Russ said.
It's a precedent Russ worries will lead to further governmental overrides on parent's rights to seek affirming services for their child.
"That's a really, really scary thought," he said.
Fischer's parents say she gave up field hockey this year out of caution, but said she won't give up her identity.
"If that means that we have to leave our home, then we'll leave our home," Alonzo said.
HB 470 is currently in the House Judiciary committee.
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