Trans teen wants lawmakers to let them ‘be a kid’ again after cruel Kentucky law passed

A trans teen in Kentucky has spoken openly about how the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for under-18s has impacted their mental, and physical, health.

Kentucky’s Republican-majority House passed legislation restricting a number of rights for trans youth, including using the correct toilets, as well prohibiting LGBTQ+ discussions within school grounds and banning gender-affirming care, earlier in 2023.

SB150 – also known as the Relating to Children Act – was passed on 29 March, following a vote to override Democratic governor Andy Beshear’s earlier veto of what he called the “worst anti-trans bill in the nation“.

Ray Loux, who is 16 and trans, told news outlets that, after the bill passed, he was overcome with anxiety.

“It’s scary to think that we could make so much progress and then literally, overnight, have it taken away,” he told US broadcaster Today.

Prior to the bill’s signing, Loux’s experience in school was already difficult due to mounting anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric by state Republicans.

He said he needed to do “mental math” when he needed to use public toilets, to figure out at what point the facilities would be empty.

“I would purposefully not drink water in the mornings, I ended up having health issues,” he said.

These fears have only increased with the forced implementation of SB150, which will impose further restrictions on Loux’s right to use the correct toilets.

“I woke up that morning and I could not make myself go to school,” he said.

“I have not been able to think about anything else. It’s affected my grades. It’s been a drain on my mental health.

“I wish that we could just be kids and go back to how it was a few months ago when I was doing better than I ever have in my entire life. That’s gone now.”

The anxiety of bills such as SB150 is being felt across Kentucky, both for the LGBTQ+ community and allies.

‘An environment of hate’

Protestors marched on the Kentucky House of Representatives on 1 April to oppose SB150. During the march, Democratic state lawmaker Pamela Stevenson condemned her colleagues as protestors were arrested while yelling “trans lives matter”.

“You have to ask yourself the question, why would they be doing that? Who are we to cause that? None of us said we would come here to hurt people,” she asked.

“We have created an environment of hate, then we look at them like there’s something wrong with them. First you hated Black people, then you hated Jews, now you’re hating everybody.”

It’s not just trans youth who are feeling the brunt of the anti-LGBTQ+ Republican boot – drag performers have also been hit hard, following a wave of legislation going through the floor of the House.

Kentucky drag queen Rita Room told PinkNews in March that the bills were threatening her right to adopt, which had already been one of the “hardest things” she had ever done.

“What if it gets to the point where these are passed, and we finally get to that day where we’re able to adopt and they see my Rita Room Facebook profile and they’re like, ‘Nope, that’s a drag queen. We’re not allowing it’,” she asked.

“These bills are pointed at ‘protecting children’, and I’m the furthest thing from someone [who] would harm them.”