On Wednesday, Ohio lawmakers debated a bill that would provide protections for parents who reject their transgender children.
HB 639 (“Act One on the Affirmation of the Family”) was introduced by Reps. Joshua Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and Gary Click (R-Vickery), both sponsors of countless anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
The bill redefines “affirmation” as a parent’s right to recognize only their child’s gender at birth and not allow their rejection of their transgender child to be used against them by any court or state agency.
Wednesday’s hearing was an opportunity for sponsor testimony: Williams and Click spoke in support of their bill.
The hearing became noticeably controversial when Democratic lawmakers sharply opposed Republican co-sponsors over the bill’s anti-transgender underpinnings.
‘Common sense’
Rep. Click immediately introduced the bill during his testimony, hailing it as “common sense.”
“It is not against the law to raise your son as a boy or your daughter as a girl,” Click said.
He cited two cases in which he accused parents of being denied the right to insist on the “biological reality” of their child – one of them Virginia and one of anonymous family in Maryland reported by Tucker Carlson’s publication – as a justification for the need to apply HB 693 in Ohio.
“It is disturbing and un-American for institutions of government to perpetuate a vicious culture war against Ohio State’s parents,” Click said in his written testimony.
Both Click and Williams have repeatedly called on Cuyahoga County to take part in a program they say tracks youth’s LGBTQ+ identity and views parents who reject their transgender children as a threat.
“This is a disgusting insult to parents’ parental rights and their constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit,” Williams said.
Later in the hearing, Republicans suggested taking further steps to directly question Cuyahoga County officials if they did not voluntarily testify as part of the HB 693 hearings.
“We should exercise our subpoena power to bring them here and question them ourselves,” said Rep. DJ Swearingen (R-Huron).
“Trick Question”
Rep. Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood) began questioning the bill’s sponsors by emphasizing their claim that they aim to “protect the dignity of all Ohio families.”
“What about the dignity and mental well-being of children in Ohio?” – asked Synenberg. “Do you accept and acknowledge that transgender people exist?”
When Click replied that he thought it was a “bad idea” for parents to “socially affirm” their children, Synenberg said Click did not answer his question.
“Do you accept and acknowledge that transgender people, including children, exist?” – he repeated.
Click called it a “trick question” and then provided an answer full of false data.
“From my previous research, all of these children have a lot of comorbidities,” Click said. “Many of them are victims of violence, and this transgender identity is a way of escape. We know that children left alone without medical intervention, 98% of them will cease to exist after puberty and will begin to re-identify with their birth gender.”
An extensive 2015 study by The Trevor Project found that between 8% and 13% of transgender Americans detransform at some point in their lives – defined as “[going] return to living according to the gender assigned at birth, at least for a while.
However, people who transition do not always stop identifying as transgender or report regretting receiving gender-affirming health care. Instead, resettlement is often transient and dependent on a person’s safety or ability to access health care.
Above 80% of people who retire report feeling pressured to give up external sources. The most frequently mentioned factors were: pressure from a parent (36%), change too tough (33%), excessive harassment or discrimination (31%) and problems with finding a job (29%).
Unlike detransportation, opt-out refers to a person permanently ceasing to identify as transgender and reversing their social or medical transition – often expressing regret for receiving gender-affirming care.
The term itself comes from crime research and most often refers to gender non-conforming children who “maintain” or “cease” gender differentiation as they grow up.
Researchers still believe that constant abandonment is scarce.
Recent study in the American Journal of Pediatrics found that 97.5% of transgender youth still identify as transgender after five years.
Williams interjected to clarify his position.
“I truly believe there are people who believe they are the opposite sex,” Williams said. “I think that’s a false belief, and I think that perpetuating that false belief is harmful to our society.”
“Parental alienation”
Before being asked questions, Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) said she felt “exhausted” by the “repeated conversations” about protecting anti-trans views.
“There are real problems that we are not talking about in the committee right now,” she said.
Her comment angered Click, who went on a tirade and became “offended” that it wasn’t a “real problem.” Williams upped the ante by saying he was “outraged” by Brown Piccolantonio’s comments.
Brown Piccoloantonio’s actual question concerned the phrase “parental alienation” that appeared in the bill, a concept rejected by major medical and psychological associations and used to defend parents who sexually abuse their children.
“Why is this term included in this bill, especially at a time when we are having many conversations and reckonings with child sexual abuse in this country?” she asked.
Williams said the phrase refers to situations in which “external entities approach a child for support online,
Tell them they are transgender, give them resources, convince them to run away from home and they will end up in the arms of human traffickers.” He said the bill included “parental alienation” to ensure parents have “the absolute right to raise their children” in the way they see fit.
“We should not have an entity in this state that could quietly and secretly investigate you, label you, and superstitiously work to take your child away just because you don’t fall for the wokeness that’s emanating from the Democratic Party,” Williams said.
Piccolantonio then asked about parents who actually affirm their transgender children.
“Do they abuse their children?” she asked. “Should they lose custody of their children?”
“That is not part of this legislation and no, we are not suggesting that they should lose custody of their children,” Click replied.
Conversion therapy
Later in the hearing, Click cited a portion of the bill that affirms a parent’s “right” to seek mental health services to free a child from a transgender 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 on conversion therapy that is incorrectly described as using only “forceful” methods.
“[Conversion therapy] it requires pain: electroconvulsive therapy, ice baths and the like,” Click said.
According to American Psychological AssociationConversion therapy encompasses any “efforts to discourage or change behaviors associated with LGBTQ+ identity and expression” and is based on the premise that “being LGBTQ+ is a disease that must be cured and any behavior that indicates or reflects an LGBTQ+ identity should be avoided.” Conversion therapy has already happened condemned by every major medical and psychological organization.
Click said that affirming transgender youth is “real” conversion therapy and that lesbian, gay and bisexual people agree with him.
“Many people in the LGB community have said [affirming trans youth] it’s conversion therapy because you take children who are usually gay, bisexual or lesbian and you tell them they have to change their gender for it to be legal,” Click said. “A lot of people in this [LBG] “The public is outraged by this.”
HB 693 has not yet been scheduled for a next hearing. 🔥
START ACTION
- Buckeye Flame Ohio’s 2025 LGBTQ+ Legislation Guide can be found here.
- To register to vote or check your eligibility to vote in Ohio, click here.
- To find the contact information for your Ohio State Representative, click here.
- To find contact information for an Ohio State Senator, click here.
- If you are a teenage LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact Trevor’s project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are a transgender adult in need of immediate support, please contact National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
