A Nebraska senator has revealed her 12-year-old son is transgender – making the announcement during a contentious debate about a bill to limit gender-affirming treatments for children.
‘This is my life and this is my reality,’ said Megan Hunt, a senator representing an Omaha district, who in 2018 became the first openly LGBTQ woman ever elected to the Nebraska legislature.
While two senators said they did not believe a transgender person existed during Wednesday’s debate, Hunt said she did not ‘make’ her child transgender.
‘All of you know me, all of you know my family, and I hope you know that I didn’t raise my kid to be trans,’ she said.
‘I don’t understand it — I don’t have to understand it. But I was so happy to learn I had a son.’
Megan Hunt is seen on Wednesday during day two of the debate about transgender healthcare for those 18 and under
Opponents of the bill are seen on Wednesday protesting inside the legislature in Lincoln, Nebraska
Hunt spoke on the second day of debate over LB574.
The bill, introduced by Senator Kathleen Kauth in January, seeks to ‘forbid gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries for those under 19’.
It will be put to a vote on Thursday.
Supporters need 33 votes, or else the bill will most likely be dead this session – a fate that is looking increasingly likely.
Even getting to vote on the bill was a struggle. Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, a Democrat representing an Omaha district, spent three weeks filibustering the bill, calling it ‘genocide’ and vowing to slow legislation to a halt in protest.
‘If this Legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful — painful for everyone,’ said Cavanaugh, a married mother of three.
‘Because if you want to inflict pain on our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this body. I will burn the session to the ground over this bill.’
She eventually decided to end her delaying tactic and allow a vote, explaining: ‘I want a record. I want the bloody hands recorded. This is a genocide. This is an assault on a population of people because they are different from you.’
Kauth accused her opponents of seeking the spotlight.
Kathleen Kauth, who introduced the legislature, accused her opponents of grandstanding
Machaela Cavanaugh filibustered the bill for three weeks, bringing routine business to a halt
Cavanaugh and her husband Nick Brotzel are seen on the campaign trail
‘We knew it would be very, very difficult, but the rhetoric seems a little intense,’ said Kauth. ‘To accuse those supporting this bill of promoting genocide, being Nazis, that seems a bit much.’
Kauth accused her opponents of ‘obnoxious hyperbole to get a lot of national media attention’.
She said the bill was not introduced ‘in a vacuum’, pointing out there were 87 bills relating to transgender issues in state legislatures at present.
Outside the legislature on Wednesday a crowd of opponents of the bill gathered to protest.
Inside, Kauth told the chamber that the bill was introduced to protect children.
‘There are no long-term studies proving that these procedures and prescriptions resolve the gender dysphoria,’ she said.
‘And there are studies, in countries with much greater experience and gender transitions, that advocate watchful waiting because the risk for youth to receive these prescriptions and procedures is simply too great.’
Protesters are seen in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday
Senator Brian Hardin of Gering and Senator Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn both told the legislature they believed there were only two genders, and that transgender individuals do not exist.
Senator Steve Halloran likened parents refusing transgender treatment to parents refusing to let their children drink alcohol.
‘By today’s standards, I would be, and my wife would be, abusive parents,’ he said.
‘That’s a tough admission to make.
‘Because at the time, as adults in the room, our children would come to us with a suggestion of doing this or that.
‘And we would point out to them the risks of doing this or that.
‘Whether it was having a party at some friend’s house, and that friend’s house was known for having drinking parties. And of course our children are underage.
‘We would say no.’
Others said they were uncertain about the science surrounding transgender people.
Hunt told the floor that many those making the decision had not even met a transgender person.
She said she was initially unsure about mentioning her son.
‘I was anxious about bringing this up and thought it might be a disservice to the debate if I did, but this is my life and this is my reality,’ she said.
‘My child has not been able to get gender-affirming care. There aren’t counselors making kids trans, there aren’t counselors telling parents you have to get your kids on these drugs or else they’re going to kill themselves.
‘This is scare tactics. It’s satanic panic. There’s no truth to it because I lived it. I’m an affirming parent. We did everything right that you’re supposed to do and my kid could not get gender-affirming care,’ Hunt said.
She added: ”I want to have a happy, healthy son like every parent of a trans youth feels.’
Hunt said that many of those engaged in the debate did not understand the reality her family faced.
‘Another thing you people don’t understand is the issue of access in Nebraska,’ Hunt said.
‘My son is not on puberty blockers, my son is not on hormones, my son certainly has not had any surgery. You know why? Because Medicaid denied it four times.
‘I’m a state senator, I’m a woman of means and power and privilege and my child has not been able to get gender-affirming care,’ she said.
‘That’s the reality of what trans health care is like in Nebraska.’
Senator John Fredrickson, a licensed mental health practitioner from Omaha and a supporter of the bill, agreed with Hunt.
He said the debate had veered into misinformation about the standards of care and assessment protocols, noting ‘parental involvement and consent are always required.’
Hunt said that supporters of the bill were ignorant of what it meant.
‘This is fake, this has nothing to do with real life,’ she said. ‘This is all of you playing government when I have to go home to my house and live it.’
