House Bill 68, a bill that would forbid gender-affirming treatment for transgender children, pressure them into health detransition, and prohibit trans women from participating in women’s sports, was heard by the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
This most recent effort to implement trans restrictions in Ohio is being spearheaded by Representative Gary Click, a right-wing pastor who is well known for opposing transition treatment. Only testimony from those in favor of the hearing, which was designated as “proponents only,” was presented. Speaking in favor of the bans, the proponents cited withdrawn pharmacists and outlier doctors as evidence that family rejection, addiction counseling, and even conversion therapy might be the best treatments for transgender people.
Representative Gary Click proposed the bill, which has already been approved by the Ohio House of Representatives. Common movement restrictions and a ban on transgender students using college restrooms are just two of the state’s bills that specifically target people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Republicans who ran on trans issues lost a number of state school board elections. It combines two divisive anti-trans bills: a ban on transgender people participating in sports that reflect their gender identity and an outlaw on gender-affirming treatment up to the age of 18.
Interestingly, the bill would force transgender youth who are already taking medication off of their medication and force them to medically detransition. There are no exceptions to the gender-affirming care ban for serious dysphoria, and there would be no alternative treatments.
Many members of the small political detransitionists and social media influencers who often travel between state hearings to oppose gender-affirming care, paralleling the ex-gay movement from the 1990s or early 2000s, testified at the hearing. According to a recent article, well-known members of this group, like Chloe Cole, might be compensated for their appearances.
Chloe Cole, Prisha Mosely, and Corinna Cohn, three recent members in a contentious Genspect conference where transgender women were said to move because they believed they were “failed boys,” were among the detransitioners and “trans regretters” who spoke at the hearing. Riley Gaines also showed up, and she was well-known for her fifth-place finish against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
It’s important to note that detransition rates are thought to be between 1 and 3%, according to a Cornell University assessment. Furthermore, the most frequent causes of detransition do not result from a lack of transgender identity but rather from familial pressure, employment difficulties, or societal stigma.
One of the detransitionists who testified against gender-affirming care appeared to make this point carelessly. After transitioning at the age of 20, Richard Anumene, who is suing Kaiser Permanente for giving him gender-affirming treatment, testified that his family put him under a great deal of stress.
According to recent studies showing that transgender people experience higher rates of poverty, he was “persuaded to return to presenting as a person” after his father rejected him and there were financial difficulties. Family rejection and non-affirmation, according to many other witnesses, may be a means of preventing trans people from being transgender.
For the first time, Morgan Keller, another detransitioner, testified that she did so because she felt “seduced” by “gender ideology” and her gender identity was a “delusion.” Keller claimed that the real reason she detransitioned was because she had a spiritual experience that led to an intense vision in which God told her she was on the incorrect path when she posted online about it. However, she left out an important portion of her own detransition journey. Both the ex-gay and spiritual detransitioner areas, which frequently teach that being LGBTQ+ goes against God’s will, frequently have religious views like these.
One of the most severe testimonies may have come from Jeanette Cooper, who disregarded the transgender identity of her own child and relinquished custody to the child’s father after he claimed that Cooper had harmed him mentally and emotionally as a result of his actions. Cooper revealed that she is in charge of a group of “dozens of parents” who do not support the gender identities of their transgender children, promoting this type of rejection in an effort to discourage them from doing so. Eventually, she responded that gender dysphoria needed to be treated “like an addiction” when asked how it should be handled. There is strong evidence that refusal has a significant negative impact on trans people’s well-being, but there is no proof that treating them “like an addiction” improves their health. In one study, trans youth with familial support were found to have a 63% lower depression level.
You can view a portion of her testified witness here:
The Alliance Defending Freedom, the institution responsible for most of the anti-trans laws in the United States and receiving sizable sums of money to support them in court, was one team that sent a consultant to speak.
The Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Sharp testified that the ban on transgender people only applied to “targeted puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery” and that it did not violate the organization’s “parental rights” approach. He responded that “counseling” was the best course of treatment for these young people when asked what was left for them.
It’s significant to note that organizations that frequently support the Alliance Defending Freedom advocate a range of conversion therapies. Exodus International, a former gay movement from the 1990s and early 2000s, and the Alliance Defending Freedom continue to support conversion treatment for both queer and trans people. It’s interesting to note that Mike Johnson, the recently elected speaker of the US House, was a member of that alliance.
There is plenty of evidence that conversion therapy harms transgender people, but there is no proof that it is a great cure for them. Gender-affirming care, however, has a ton of compelling evidence to support it. Gender-affirming treatment is considered to be a form of preventive care, according to an article in the prestigious medical book The Lancet. It contributes to a higher quality of life and is crucial to the well-being of trans individuals.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that it significantly lowers suicides and promotes good mental health; some studies report a startling 73% decline in suicide rates. A collection of more than 50 blog posts compiled by Cornell University, all of which highlight the advantages of gender-affirming care, support its use.
There were a number of additional supporters called in to speak. These supporters included outlier doctors like Yellow Springs, Ohio doctor Kent Zellner, who quit his job after refusing to complete Plan B treatments. Cynthia Millen, who is frequently referred to as a “USA Swimming standard” and who has said that “predators love Planned Parenthood,” and that gay folks should “practice chastity,” testified as well.
Riley Gaines, a significant conservative celebrity, also appeared to support the bill’s sports ban provision in his testimony. After the hearing, she told her supporters that she had a significant impact on the ban on transgender women playing women’s games.
Sources suggest that Republicans intend to drive this bill through despite the fact that anti-trans plans are not politically common in Ohio—70% of school board candidates running on trans issues and Moms For Liberty systems lost. Ohio would be one of the last conservative states to outlaw trans youth sports and gender-affirming care if it were to become law. If these bills are passed into law, they will cause great harm.
An opposition hearing will be the following hearing and be made public eventually.
