Kentucky governor vetoes sweeping GOP transgender measure
Associated PressFRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a sweeping Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.” In his one-page message, he warned that the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in youth suicides. “Andy Beshear thinks it’s okay for children to have access to life-altering sex change surgery and drugs before they turn 18,” state Republican Party spokesperson Sean Southard said in a statement. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Kentucky-based Fairness Campaign, praised the veto, saying the bill would cause “disaster and despair for transgender Kentucky kids and their families.” The bill’s supporters say they are trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments that they might regret as adults. Beshear said in his veto message that the bill would turn educators and administrators into “investigators that must listen in on student conversations and then knock on doors to confront and question parents and families about how students behave and/or refer to themselves or others.” David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, condemned the veto, saying the bill seeks to protect children and their parents from “radical, politicized ideologies.” After the bill passed the legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky warned that it “stands ready” to challenge the measure in court if it becomes law.