LEXINGTON, Ky. — Representatives voted on House Bill 470 on Thursday and it will now advance to the Senate. Protestors were at the state Capitol to speak out against the bill. Families with transgender minors are concerned about the effects this bill will have on their children if passed.
Mae Koger, 15, came out to her parents as trans when she was about 12-years-old. Prior to that conversation, life was difficult for the teenager.
“I was in a very depressive state,” said Koger. “I was trying to figure out these feelings and why I felt so alienated, and not me and it was truly a struggle for me.”
Once she came out to the people close to her and started her transition, her mental health improved drastically.
“When I started transitioning medically, the hormones really help with all of that, such as my depression, and it makes me feel more me, both inside and outside,” said Koger.
Koger’s mother, Shantee Lamarr, was unsure of what was causing Koger to be depressed and was extremely worried about her before she came out.
“Mae has come a long way on her journey,” said Lamarr. “We didn’t know what was wrong. Mae was just depressed. We didn’t know what they were going through until they came out to us and then it was like everything clicked and we were able to do something about that, do something with that.”
What Lamarr thought was in the past may soon become her family’s reality again.
If House Bill 470 passes, health care providers would no longer be able to provide gender-affirming health care for trans youth without the risk of losing their license.
Koger takes medications to get estrogen and block testosterone and is not only worried about continuing to receive this care, but is also worried about her transgender friends.
“I know that if this bill passes, many of my friends won’t make it through,” said Koger.
The family is considering three options if the bill is passed: stay in Kentucky and risk Koger’s mental health, travel to a state that will provide the services she needs, or leave Kentucky altogether.
“They don’t deserve to be uprooted from their home or their school,” said Lamarr. “They don’t’ deserve to be denied their life-saving medical care.”
Families are not the only ones who are concerned about the mental health of those impacted. Natalie Criss, a clinical counselor, is also worried. She sees patients across Kentucky and works with trans kids that would be unable to get gender-affirming care if the bill passes.
“If they’re not supported and able to express themselves or transition, their brains are going to find ways to cope with it that are not going to be healthy,” said Criss. “They’re just going to start dissociating a lot which can lead to other mental health struggles, which can lead to suicidal ideation.”
The sponsors behind this bill believe that it will protect children, but Lamarr thinks the opposite.
“This bill is going to kill people and I think that nobody is talking about that,” said Lamarr.
HB 470 has not been heard on the Senate floor yet, but if it passes there, it will be sent to Gov. Andy Beshear.