The first hearing was held on Wednesday for HB 68, the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, in the Public Health Policy committee of the Ohio House.
If passed, the bill would ban gender-affirming care in the state of Ohio, and would prohibit physicians from prescribing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers, and from performing any type of gender affirming surgery on minors.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit healthcare providers from helping their patients get gender affirming care in other states, outlawing conduct that “aids and abets.”
Wednesday’s hearing consisted exclusively of testimony from the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), a Baptist pastor from Sandusky County in north-central Ohio.
Click spoke for several minutes about the bill, then fielded questions from members of the committee.
Below are 11 of the most memorable quotes from this second hearing.
1. “I would love your thoughts on why you think that your approach, which goes against all other medical societies, is the best approach.”
-Rep. Beth Liston (D-Dublin), posing this question to Click, after she listed 17 of the major medical associations that support gender-affirming care as a standard of practice.
2. “I know you have a lot of empathy and that you care about people.”
-Click, responding to Liston, while forgetting to add that Liston’s qualifications also include being a board certified physician in both pediatrics and internal medicine.
3. “Your contention is that all of the medical organizations make their decisions just based on a couple of people’s opinion, when in fact, medical orgs review all the body of literature. They are the experts in their field to review the information and that’s how recommendations [are made].”
-Liston, refuting statements by Click after he waffled back-and-forth between saying that “associations are not evidence” and presenting as evidence that there are associations that support his stance. Liston cut in to label Click’s associations “fringe.”
4. “Security is in the room. Try me.”
-Chairman Scott Lipps (R-Franklin), silencing a verbal outburst that erupted when Click spoke about Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and that Facebook was making trans kids trans.
5. “I find it really disheartening that you compared gender-affirming care with female genital mutilation.”
-Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo), after Click compared gender-affirming care with genital mutilation.
6. “You are discounting any organization that does not agree with you. However, the Ohio State Medical Association just this weekend reaffirmed that gender-affirming care should be offered, it should not be banned, and should not be made illegal by legislation.”
-Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin), an OBGYN, before presenting actual evidence to refute Click’s previous statements.
7. “Doctors are certified on these issues. I respectfully don’t see that you have the expertise to make these decisions.”
-Rep. Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus) to Click
8. “Gary Click doesn’t have a horse in this race.”
-Click, speaking in third person, responding to Abdullahi. It should be noted here that Click asked Abdullahi how to pronounce her last name. He then congratulated himself for getting it right on the first try, before stumbling to pronounce her name milliseconds later. He immediately gave up and asked her if he could just call her “Representative.” Abdullahi is the first Muslim woman and the first Somali American to serve in the Ohio legislature.
9. “[The Center for Christian Virtue (CCV)] has facilitated connecting those parents to me. That is what I have tried to say from the beginning.”
-Click, directly contradicting his testimony last year when he directly stated that the CCV brought him the bill.
10. “I don’t believe there is such a thing as gender-affirming care.”
-Click, in a quote that speaks for itself.
11. “I am opposed to converting boys into girls.”
-Click, dodging a question from Rep. Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati) about whether he believes in conversion therapy. Dr. Baker is a nurse researcher who held up a ream of research on gender-affirming care that she said she will be sharing with the committee.
Ignite Action:
- For up-to-date information on HB 68 from Equality Ohio, click here.
Know an LGBTQ+ Ohio story we should cover? TELL US!
Submit a story!
