Protesters flooded the Texas Capitol in Austin on Tuesday ahead of a debate about whether the state should pass legislation restricting sex change procedures for minors, according to reports and video footage shared online.
The protesters included hundreds of advocates and the parents of transgender-identified youth who swarmed the hallway outside the building’s chambers, FOX29 reported. The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) tweeted a video purportedly showing a protester unfurling a large banner with the words, “LET TRANS KIDS GROW UP.” TENT said the individual unrolling the banner, Sofia, is a board member of their organization and was banned from the Texas Capitol for one year.
Protesters moved into the gallery above the chamber floor where the debate was slated to take place, according to FOX29. Supporters of Senate Bill (S.B.) 14 also organized in the area above the chambers, wearing red shirts that said “Save Texas Kids,” the outlet reported.
Tense moments in the main rotunda of the Capitol. LGBTQ+ advocates go face-to-face with Senate Bill 14 supporters, who are wearing shirts that say “Save Texas Kids.” SB 14 bans trans medical care and surgeries to minors. 12:55pm, the House has not brought up SB 14, yet. #txlege https://t.co/0RTj45nEG6 pic.twitter.com/ZqkzybIzhi
— Natalie Haddad (@natalieontv) May 2, 2023
Republican state Rep. Tom Oliverson previously amended S.B. 14 to allow youth currently undergoing gender therapies to gradually wean off the procedures in a “medically appropriate manner” instead of quitting abruptly. (RELATED: Biden Admin Advocate For Child Sex Changes Kicks Off Adolescent Health Month With Resources On ‘Sexual’ Health)
Oliverson is a co-sponsor of the bill. He said he was inspired to take a leadership role on the issue after a doctor allegedly gave misleading statements on gender change procedures to a Texas house committee. The doctor got “trapped” into giving “untrue statements” about the reversibility of sex-change procedures, according to Oliverson.
“We literally realized during the middle of the hearing we were being lied to,” he said while speaking at Texas Policy Summit 2023.
S.B. 14 relates to “prohibitions on the provision to certain children of procedures and treatments for gender transitioning, gender reassignment, or gender dysphoria,” according to a summary of the legislation. The bill’s language specifies that surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone therapies for minors would be banned, and that public funds cannot be used to assist in providing gender transitions for children.