KENTUCKY, USA — Kentucky lawmakers have voted to override the governor's veto of a bill deemed “one of the most extreme anti-trans bills in the nation" by opponents.
Senate Bill 150 specifically targets transgender youth in Kentucky. It bans access to gender-affirming health care and restricts the bathrooms they can use.
Here's what is included in the bill:
- School districts must create explicit bathroom policies.
- Gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, including surgical and non-surgical procedures like puberty blockers is banned.
- Schools can't discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students regardless of age.
- Healthcare providers who provide gender-affirming care to minors could have their licenses revoked.
- School districts must notify parents of any mental health services relating to human sexuality.
“Trans Kentuckians, medical and mental health professionals, and accredited professional associations pleaded with lawmakers to listen to the experts, not harmful rhetoric based in fear and hate,” Amber Duke, executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky, said. “Their pleas fell on deaf ears as the general assembly passed the bill in a matter of hours.”
Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the bill earlier this week, but on Wednesday a Republican majority in both the House and Senate voted to override his veto.
The Family Foundation, a Christian fundamentalist lobbying nonprofit, called the veto a “win for children and their parents.”
In a statement, the nonprofit's Executive Director David Wells said:
“Kentuckians overwhelmingly support SB 150’s commonsense student privacy protections in restrooms and locker rooms, along with the right of parents to have a say in their child’s education. The off-label use of puberty blockers, along with cross-sex hormones and surgery, in experimental gender ‘transitions’ has no place in children’s healthcare – the irreversible harms that de-transitioners have suffered testify to that."
Earlier this year, a Mason-Dixon poll released by the Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, found more than 70% of registered Kentucky voters reject legislation that restricts a parent’s choice to obtain certain health care for their transgender children.
The bill's supporters quickly assembled to defend the override, saying it protects trans children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare, however.
And as for gender-affirming surgeries being performed on Kentucky youth? It's not happening.
A spokesperson for Norton’s Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Education Program told WHAS11 in March: “We don’t do surgicals on minors.”
As lawmakers voted, several protestors inside the Kentucky House gallery could be heard chanting in opposition. They locked arms as Kentucky State Police officers arrested and removed them from the chamber.
“Their chants and pain were heard by all in the chamber and were a necessary show of the grief and harm Senate Bill 150 will cause,” Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said.
Kentucky State Police said 19 people were arrested and charged with third-degree criminal trespassing.
Critics of the bill say although this battle was lost, the fight is still not over.
“To all the trans youth who may be affected by this legislation: we stand by you, and we will not stop fighting,” Duke said. “To the commonwealth: we will see you in court.”
According to the ACLU, an “emergency” clause was applied to some sections of SB 150, but the healthcare ban won’t go into effect until late June.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
