Republican lawmakers in Kentucky on
Wednesday overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's veto of an
anti-transgender bill.
The bill bans access to
gender-affirming health care for transgender youth and restricts the
bathrooms that they can use.
Republicans hold supermajorities in the
House and Senate.
Loud protests against the bill were
heard in the House gallery. Nineteen protesters were removed and
arrested, according to the AP.
The vote took place on the next-to-last
day of this year's legislative session.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBTQ rights advocate, called Senate Bill 150 a
“desperate and cruel effort by extremist politicians in Kentucky to
stigmatize and marginalize and erase the LGBTQ+ community,
particularly transgender youth.”
In vetoing the bill, Beshear said that
it allowed “too much government interference” and “rips away
the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.”
The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) of Kentucky has said that it will challenge the bill in court.
Kentucky joins a growing list of states
that restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, including
Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South
Dakota, and West Virginia.
The bill also prohibits schools from
discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any
age.