A revised potential law in Kentucky seeks to allow state officials to take trans children away from their parents – if the youngster used a toilet that corresponded with their gender identity.
Republican Jason Petrie introduced the amendment to the state house on Monday (26 February). If passed, it would add an “educational neglect” clause to a bill that would allow lawmakers to say the parents did not “properly supervise, instruct, train or control” their child under recently passed anti-trans legislation.
It specifically cites a senate bill passed last year, sponsored by a number of Republicans, which prohibits trans children using the correct pronouns or public facilities in schools and forces educators to out the child to their parents.
Legislative researcher Allison Chapman, who initially spotted the amendment, said that it was “easy to miss” because it required “existing knowledge of [the senate bill]” while not explicitly calling out parents of transgender children.
A parent or guardian found to be in violation of the proposed amendment would have to go through a temporary removal hearing. A court could then issue an order to give temporary custody of the child to the state.
A newly added section under the amendment would also stop any parental social security they were receiving until “the child’s return to the physical placement of his or her parent or guardian”.
Temporary custody would last initially up to 45 days, but could be extended by the state if deemed necessary.
Following the approval of the senate bill in 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Kentucky challenged the state legislature for what it described as an “egregious example of government overreach”. Filing a lawsuit in May, they argued that the bill violated the “fundamental rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children”.
The bill was passed after the Kentucky General Assembly overrode Democrat governor Andy Beshear’s veto. He cited fears it would “endanger the children of Kentucky.”
ACLU Kentucky went on to say: “This law prohibits essential medical care for trans youth… by targeting health care providers and threatening them with loss of licensure if they provide that care to minors.
“[The senate bill] is part of a national effort to enact anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
“These bills are not coming from major medical or educational groups, nor are they supported by them. These are political attacks from groups with a fundamental opposition to transgender people being able to live openly.”
