Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider testifies against cruel trans youth healthcare ban
Amy Schneider (Getty Images)
Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider has testified against trans youth healthcare being banned in Ohio.
The bill, which is also known as the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act”, would stop people under the age of 18 accessing puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming services. It also requires teachers to out trans kids to their parents.
“It’s so important that LGBTQ+ Ohioans and those who love them fight to protect the children whose health and safety would be endangered by this misguided legislation,” Amy Schneider said during the legislative hearing which took place today (Wednesday, 16 November).
The bill would also forbid government funds or health insurance from going towards people or facilities providing gender-affirming care.
Under the legislation, medical providers could be sued or face professional discipline for providing vital care.
It also contains falsehoods and misrepresentations which aren’t backed up by any supporting evidence, including the claim that the “vast majority” of trans kids “identify with their biological sex in adolescence or adulthood”.
The bill’s formation is based on the idea of doctors peer-pressuring kids into so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria”, and it claims the risks of gender-affirming treatments “far outweigh any benefit”.
If Ohio passes the ban, it will be the third state to pass such a law, joining Arkansas and Alabama.
In August this year a federal appeals court ruled Arkansas can’t enforce its ban on trans youth receiving gender-affirming care and a preliminary injunction was put in place to stop the law.
Meanwhile, in Alabama, state officials have attempted to use the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion as a way to ban the vital care for trans youths, following the ban being blocked in May.
Policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, Olivia Hunt, told The 19th website that the aim of these bills is “to force trans people out of public life and restrict gender-affirming care access for all trans people, regardless of age”.
Schneider, who shot to fame on Jeopardy! after winning 40 consecutive games, has been open in sharing details about her love life and she has also stood up for trans rights at the White House.
