FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Today, LGBTQ+ advocates continue to have concerns about how House Bill 470 has expanded from its focus on gender-affirming care for people under 18.
Chris Hartman, the executive director of the Fairness Campaign, says, "We know that that care is medically necessary, it is safe, it saves kids’ lives, and it is approved by every major medical organization in the United States of America. And now it has become a Frankenstein monster of anti-fairness bills."
Now, the bill also bans teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation and forces districts to create restroom policies for transgender students. So far this year, there have been multiple pieces of legislation centered around the LGBTQ+ community.
Hartman says, "I mean we did face some other challenges. The 'drag bill' — Senate Bill 115. The Courier-Journal has declared that that bill is dead. I say that bill number is dead, but that language could still be added to any number of bills."
Parents of LGBTQ children like Jessica Bowman, say that this legislation promotes hate. She calls it "legalized bullying" because of how she believes it would allow students to be treated in schools.
Bowman says, "Specifically, like for teachers to misname people and misgender people — like that sets up a modeling of then peers bully. Then — they're like 'well if they don't have to, then I don't.' You know, it models discrimination and there's already a lot of bullying in schools."
Both of these advocates encourage people to continue making their voices heard — by calling and emailing legislators, but most importantly, they don't want people to lose hope.
"We will emerge like a phoenix — bolder, brighter, more beautiful, more loud and more proud because of this. What I see is the opposite effect that these bills wanna have."
No matter what today's vote brings, they say the work won’t stop here.
Earlier this month, HB 470 bill sponsor Representative Jennifer Decker said the bill seeks to protect Kentucky kids from "irreplaceable damage."
