Rep. Kevin McDugle is for the death penalty, but "if they kill Richard Glossip, you will see me running every bit of legislation to kill the death penalty in Oklahoma."
Judith … Christy … Renee …
These are the names of some mothers of transgender children in Oklahoma. They are wonderful and caring mothers and, like most, are willing to do whatever it takes to help their children be safe, healthy and fulfilled.
After Senate Bill 613, they are now facing a nightmare — the care their kid desperately needs to survive in this world has been outlawed, making an already difficult system of health care even more cloudy, with providers fearful of criminal charges.
From our legal and pastoral work, we knew that once the governor signed SB 613, a piece of “cookie-cutter” legislation being passed all over the nation, citizens of this state who identify as LGBTQIA+ and two-spirit people would be forced to seek health care and safety out of state, if they can even afford it.
This has a devastating impact on families and children, all because our leaders have chosen to criminalize health care — which is endorsed by virtually every major medical association and has been proven to save and transform lives — under the guise of “protecting children.”
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What is demonstrated by our government leaders is a willful lack of understanding about the process involved in gender-affirming care.
Gender-affirming care is doctor-recommended, age-appropriate, medically necessary care for people who are experiencing the incredibly challenging symptoms of gender dysphoria, when one’s gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth. Gender-affirming care incorporates medical, mental health and social services together for treatment and, at different ages, may involve a spectrum of treatments.
It can be social in nature — like a name or pronoun change, wearing different clothes or having a different hair style. Sometimes families, in consultation with medical staff and with full consent, may use puberty blockers. This care is provided only after achieving a variety of criteria, done under the supervision of a doctor and other mental health professionals and always with consent.
If the effort was really to “protect children,” then the Legislature ought to have started conversations with trans kids, who live all across our state. They would say, as they have said to us, that this treatment helps them feel whole and real and that removing it makes them feel the exact opposite of protected.
There are no kids being “groomed;” no kids seeking intervention like puberty blockers or surgery so that they can have a competitive advantage in a sport; and no kid deciding one day they want to be a different gender and getting surgery the next day.
They simply want to be kids in an honest and genuine way.
It takes minimal effort to find statistical evidence that gender-affirming care saves lives and dramatically improves the quality of the lives of those who receive such care. You could even listen to the specialists in your own state, for instance.
We know that the suicide rate is drastically reduced, and the quality of life improves, including grades, participation and self-esteem.
But the anecdotal success stories shared by one mother explain the most compelling benefit of this care: “After all this time, my baby is finally healthy. I see it in their eyes.”
SB 613 is a nightmare for parents of transgender children, who now feel scared and alone because they know what the statistics say without prejudice — gender-affirming care is life-saving and transformative care. This legislation represents a failure of the state to protect the most vulnerable among us and shows what can happen when disinformation and fear are enabled by a monopoly of power in our Legislature.
We can be better, Oklahoma. We must be better. Our kids — all of our kids — deserve it.
— The Rev. Chris Moore is senior minister at the Fellowship Congregational United Church of Christ in Tulsa, and Josh Payton is an attorney at the Oklahoma Equality Law Center.