Two Republicans help stop trans care ban & deliver a powerful speech: “The youth need our help”

A gender-affirming care ban failed to pass in Kansas as a result of two Republican state representatives who broke ranks with their party to vote against the legislation.

On Tuesday, the state’s Senate voted 27-13 to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) veto of S.B. 233, which sought to bar transgender youth under 18 from accessing medically necessary care, including gender-affirming surgeries and puberty blockers (though gender-affirming surgery is almost never performed on minors).

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Advocates are cautiously optimistic as state legislative sessions come to a close without passing any hateful laws.

But in a move no one expected, the bill died in the state House, where Republican state Reps. Susan Concannon and Jesse Borjon decided to vote alongside Democrats against it even though both had previously voted in its favor.

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“We hear of bullying and ask authorities to make it stop,” Concannon said during a speech on why she changed her vote. “We hear about mental health, about suicide, and ask why. We’re not listening to the impacted youth. Government involvement is not the answer.”

“I voted for this bill in the past due to concerns about the surgery. With further consideration, this bill is vague beyond the surgery. These decisions belong between the team of professionals and the parents. The youth need our help, not government overreach. To all who have reached out, I hear you, and vote to sustain the governor’s veto.”

“I can breathe,” declared trans activist Iridescent Riffelm in response to the vote, according to the Associated Press. “I’m relieved. I know many other families in Kansas are.”

According to trans rights activist and journalist Erin Reed, S.B. 233 would have been one of the most extreme anti-trans laws in the country had it passed. The bill not only banned best-practice medical care like puberty blockers, but it also banned state employees from “promoting social transition,” which involves nothing more than a child dressing how they want to and going by the name and pronouns that make them feel most themselves.

Equality Kansas was part of a group of state nonprofits that furiously lobbied the legislature to vote to sustain Gov. Kelly’s veto, Reed reported. In a statement, the organization proclaimed, “We are relieved that the House Republicans took time to listen to trans folks and take a step back to look at what is going on — that S.B. 233 and bills like it are founded in hate, not in fact. We need and will continue to work to engage Kansas community members and educate legislators.”

About 200 healthcare professionals also signed on to an open letter to the Kansas legislature urging lawmakers to sustain the veto.

The letter said that the bill and others like it “disregard established medical best practices and inflict significant harm on an already vulnerable population. Additionally, the rhetoric used to promote these bans are completely inaccurate and perpetuate discrimination against transgender youth and their families.”

“This harmful legislation would ban only for transgender youth essential medical care otherwise available to non-transgender patients,” the letter continued, “such as puberty blockers, HRT, and gender-affirming surgeries. It is written so broadly as to prevent all providers from ‘promoting or advocating’ for gender-affirming care if they are recipients of state funding for youth mental health services.”

“It’s crucial to recognize that transgender youth are not making impulsive decisions, but rather engaging in a thoughtful process with the support of their families, mental health professionals, and medical providers. Banning essential health care for transgender Kansans under the age of 18 removes a crucial lifeline from these individuals and places them at risk of long-term psychological harm.”

Reed pointed out that the sustained veto is especially surprising since Kansas has been “a lightning rod for anti-trans legislation in recent years,” passing some of the harshest anti-trans laws in the country.

But several advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), believe that the movement around anti-LGBTQ+ policies is losing steam as anti-LGBTQ+ bills continue to fail around the country. Advocates believe Republicans may be realizing that coming after trans and other queer folks is not the electoral slam dunk they thought it was.

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