On Wednesday, the Kentucky Legislature acted quickly to override Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 150, a bill to outlaw transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments for children under 18 years of age. It also does away with any school district requirements that so-called transgender children be referred to by their “preferred pronouns.”
Senate Bill 150 was passed by both houses of the Legislature on March 16; Beshear vetoed the bill on March 24.
The Kentucky Senate voted to override Beshear’s veto shortly after the afternoon session began, with the House of Representatives following suit about an hour later. Driven by large GOP majorities in both houses, the Legislature’s override means that the bill will now become law in the Bluegrass State, although it is expected to face court challenges.
In his veto, Beshear claimed the law would allow too much government intrusion into personal healthcare decisions and “endanger the children of Kentucky.”
“Senate Bill 150 allows too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children. Senate Bill 150 further strips freedom from parents to make personal family decisions on the names their children are called and how people should refer to them,” Beshear wrote.
The governor claimed that his faith guided his veto decision: “I am also vetoing Senate Bill 150 because my faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky.”
But Beshear’s veto was easily overridden by a 29-8 margin in the Senate, with one Republican joining Democrats in opposition to the override. In the House, the margin was 76-23, with four Republicans voting against the override and one Democrat supporting it.
During debate on the override, the galleries of both chambers were filled with onlookers from both camps, who were often unable to keep silent during the proceedings. In the House, supporters of the bill drowned out Democrats who attempted to oppose the override. Approximately 20 protesters had to be removed by state police.
“Obviously, we welcome everybody to be here participating in their government, but we do expect proper levels of decorum to be maintained to allow us to conduct our business,” said House Speaker David Osborne.
During the Senate debate, the bill’s sponsor, Republican Senator Max Wise, said that people from both sides of the aisle commented on its common sense.
“I’ve had countless number of people coming up to me from both sides of the aisle to say, ‘Thank you for standing up for common sense. Thank you for standing up and being willing to stand in that gap, to be willing to take whatever it is is thrown our way,’” Wise said. “If it’s hit jobs from newspaper activists, if it is for standing up for parents, for those that do not show up here in committee meetings to testify because they’re working and because they are also dependent upon us in a representative democracy, that we can make common sense decisions here that protect our children.”
Representing the other side of the debate was Democratic Senator Karen Berg from Louisville, who declared that the fight is not over. Berg’s “transgender” son, Henry Berg-Brousseau, who had been a deputy press secretary for the far-left Human Rights Campaign, committed suicide in December.
“To call this a parents’ right is an absolute despicable affront to me personally,” Berg said. “We are denying families, their physicians and their therapists, the right to make medically informed decisions for their families…. This fight is not over…. We will get this right for you. Give us time, and don’t do anything drastic,” she added.
In other words, Berg would appear to be saying, “I’m a grieving mother — don’t challenge but just agree with me.”
Transgender activists protested at the Capitol in Frankfort, waving LGBT flags, giving impromptu speeches, and generally making their displeasure known.
The protesting LGBT youth were joined by the usual left-wing groups vowing to fight on in the battle to “transition” the kids of the Bluegrass State.
“To all the trans youth who may be affected by this legislation: we stand by you, and we will not stop fighting. You are cherished. You are loved. You belong,” said Angela Cooper of the ACLU of Kentucky. “To the commonwealth: we will see you in court.”
A common leftist refrain. When liberals don’t like the outcome of the democratic process, they simply shop for judges sympathetic to their plight who might overturn that process on a whim.
