Tensions flare in Ohio House over whether trans people exist

Ohio lawmakers debated a bill on Wednesday that would grant protections to parents who reject their trans children.

HB 639 (“The Affirming Families First Act”) was introduced by Reps. Joshua Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and Gary Click (R-Vickery), both sponsors of myriad anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

The bill redefines “affirmation” as a parent’s right to acknowledge only a child’s sex at birth and not have their rejection of their trans child used against them by any courts or state agencies.

Wednesday’s hearing was an opportunity for sponsor testimony: Williams and Click speaking in support of their bill.

The hearing turned starkly contentious when Democratic lawmakers pushed back on the Republican co-sponsors regarding the anti-trans underpinnings of the bill.

‘Common sense’

Rep. Click immediately introduced the bill during his testimony as “common sense.”

“It is not unlawful to raise your son as a boy or your daughter as a girl,” Click said.

He cited two incidents where he alleged that parents’ rights to insist on their child’s “biological reality” were denied – one in Virginia and one of an anonymous family in Maryland reported on by Tucker Carlson’s publication – as making the case for why HB 693 was necessary in Ohio.

“It is disconcerting and un-American for government institutions to perpetuate a rabid culture war against the parents of the state of Ohio,” Click said in his written testimony.

Both Click and Williams repeatedly called out Cuyahoga County for a program that they said tracks the LGBTQ+ identity of youth and deems parents who reject their trans children as a threat.

“ This is a disgusting affront to parents’ parental rights and their constitutional right to raise their children in the correct manner that they see fit,” Williams said.

Later in the hearing, Republicans suggested doing more to directly question Cuyahoga County officials if they did not voluntarily testify as part of HB 693 hearings.

“ We should use our subpoena power to bring them in here and question them ourselves,” said Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron).

‘A trick question’

Rep. Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood) began the questioning of the bills’ sponsors by highlighting their claim that they seek to “protect the dignity of all families in the state of Ohio.”

“What about the dignity and mental well-being of the children of Ohio?” Synenberg asked. “Do you accept and acknowledge that transgender people do exist?”

When Click provided a response that he thought it was a “bad idea” to have parents “socially affirm” their children, Synenberg said that Click did not answer his question.

“Do you accept and acknowledge that transgender people, including children, do exist?” he repeated.

Click called it a “trick question” before launching into a response full of false data.

“Through my prior research all of these children have multiple comorbidities,” Click said. “Many of them are victims of abuse and this trans identity is a means of escape. What we do know is that children who are left on their own without medical intervention, 98% of them will desist after puberty and they will begin to re-identify with their natal sex.”

An extensive 2015 survey conducted by The Trevor Project found that between 8% and 13% of transgender Americans detransition at some point in their lives – defined as “[going] back to living as your sex assigned at birth, at least for a while.”

People who detransition do not always stop identifying as transgender or report regret around receiving gender-affirming health care, however. Instead, detransition is often temporary and based on a person’s safety or ability to access health care.

More than 80% of people who detransition report feeling pressure to detransition from outside sources. The most commonly cited factors were pressure from a parent (36%), transitioning was too hard (33%), too much harassment or discrimination (31%) and trouble getting a job (29%).

Unlike detransition, desistance refers to a person who permanently stops identifying as transgender and reverses their social or medical transition – often expressing regret around having received gender-affirming care in the first place.

The term itself originates in criminal research and most commonly refers to gender non-conforming children who either “persist” or “desist” in their gender variance as they grow older.

Researchers still consider permanent desistance rare.

A recent study in the American Journal of Pediatrics found that 97.5% of transgender youth continue to identify as transgender after five years.

Williams cut in to make his position clear.

“ I do believe that individuals exist that believe they are the opposite sex,” Williams said. “I think it’s a false belief, and I think it’s harmful for our society to affirm said false belief.”

‘Parental alienation’

Before asking her questions, Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) said she felt “exhausted” by the “repeated conversations” about protecting anti-trans views.

“There are real issues that exist that we’re not talking about in the committee right now,” she said.

Her comment set off Click, who launched into a tirade and was “offended” that this wasn’t a “real issue.” Williams upped the ante, saying he was “outraged” by Brown Piccolantonio’s comment.

Brown Piccoloantonio’s actual question was about the phrase “parental alienation” that appeared in the bill, a concept that has been rejected by major medical and psychological associations and has been used in defense of parents who sexually abuse their children.

“Why is that term part of this bill, especially at a time when we are having a whole lot of conversation and reckoning with child sexual abuse in this country?” she asked.

Williams said that the phrase refers to when “ third party entities go and solicit your child online,

Tell them they’re transgender, give them resources, convince them to run away from home and they end up in the arms of human traffickers.” He said that “parental alienation” is present in the bill to ensure that parents have the “absolute right to raise their children” in the way that they see fit.

“We should not have an entity in this state that can quietly and secretly investigate you, label you and work superstitiously to remove your child simply because you don’t buy into the wokeness that’s coming out of the Democrat party,” Williams said.

Piccolantonio then asked about parents who actually affirm their trans children.

“ Are they abusing their children?” she asked. “Should they lose custody of their children?”

“ That it’s not a part of this legislation, and no, we are not suggesting that they should lose their custody of their children,” Click responded.

Conversion therapy

Later in the hearing, Click brought up the part of the bill that affirms parents’ “right” to seek out mental health services to rid their child of their trans identity and prevents state agencies from classifying psychological and mental health treatment that affirms a child’s sex assigned at birth as “conversion therapy.”

Click incorrectly described conversion therapy as only using methods that “ require force.”

“[Conversion therapy] requires pain: electro shock therapy, ice baths and things like that,” Click said.

According to the American Psychology Association, conversion therapy includes all “efforts to discourage or change behaviors related to LGBTQ+ identities and expressions” and is rooted in the assumption “that being LGBTQ+ is an illness that must be cured, and any behaviors that indicate or reflect LGBTQ+ identities must be avoided.” Conversion therapy has been condemned by every major medical and psychological organization.

Click said that affirming trans youth is the “real” conversion therapy and that lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals agree with him.

“ Many of the people in the LGB community have said [affirming trans youth] is conversion therapy because you’re taking children that are normally gay, bi or lesbians and you’re telling them that they have to change sex to be legitimate,” Click said. “Many people in that [LBG] community are outraged by this.”

HB 693 has not yet been scheduled for a next hearing. 🔥

IGNITE ACTION

The Buckeye Flame’s Ohio LGBTQ+ legislation guide for 2025 can be found here.
To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
To find contact information for your Ohio state senator, click here.
If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860