Michigan and Ohio GOP legislators discuss ‘endgame’ of banning all trans health care

By Jon King

On January 29, 2024

Several Republican legislators from Michigan and Ohio were recorded in an online forum planning to try to ban trans health care for everyone, regardless of age.

The discussion was hosted by Michigan state Rep. Brad Paquette (R-Niles) on the X social media platform and included Michigan Reps. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) and Tom Kunse (R-Clare) as well as state Sens. Lana Theis (R-Brighton) and Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater). Also featured was Ohio state Rep. Gary Click, sponsor of that state’s ban on gender affirming care, and anti-trans activist Prisha Mosley of Michigan.

As first reported by independent journalist Erin Reed, the legislators openly discuss their opposition to the trans community, and more specifically to any kind of transgender care, even for adults.

“In terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone?” said Schriver. “Why would we stop this for anyone under 18, but not apply this for anyone over 18? It’s harmful across the board, and I think that’s something that we need to take into consideration in terms of the endgame.”

Click, whose legislation would also prevent transgender athletes from playing women’s sports in Ohio, called Schriver’s comment a “very smart thought” and then added advice for Republican legislators seeking to outlaw gender affirming care.

“I think sometimes what we know legislatively is we have to take sometimes small bites,” said Click, who then lauded restrictions placed on transgender adult clinics by Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

“The other thing is Planned Parenthoods. They pass out hormones like candy; he’s put a stop to that,” said Click “That’s one of the places a lot of adults go.”

DeWine had instituted the restrictions as an alternative when he vetoed Click’s bill. However, the Ohio legislature later overrode the veto, so as of April 23 that state will ban gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), medical or surgical procedures and some mental health services.

That’s despite major medical organizations that have all concluded age-appropriate gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Endocrine Society.

Additionally, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an international organization of health professionals, has long stated that age should not be a barrier to providing care for those having gender identity issues.

“If there are persistent and strong indications that gender dysphoria is present, a comprehensive evaluation by clinicians skilled in the assessment and treatment of gender dysphoria is essential, irrespective of the patient’s age,” states the WPATH Standards of Care (SOC).

Schriver returned the conversation to finding a way to ban all gender affirming care, which he likened to “essentially consenting to mutilation, consenting to self-harm; consenting to killing yourself.”

“I’m just saying, moreover, in addition to that, we have to be looking at the endgame simultaneously,” he said. “Maybe even using that as a way to move the window and to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t just wrong for 0 to 18. This is wrong for everyone, and we should not be allowing this to happen.”

Click then relayed that he had been asked by reporters if he had any regrets that bans like his against gender affirming care for minors in Ohio also had the effect of closing down gender clinics that treated adults.

“No, I’m actually pretty happy about it,” he said. “I don’t think they ever printed what I said, but sometimes we just have to look at taking one bite at a time, doing it incrementally. When you put everything into one pot, it’s going to be harder for you to get any legislation across the finish line. So take off a bite-sized portion of it.”

Theis talked about legislation in Michigan she said was “trying to undermine” humanity, including the recently passed ban on conversion therapy, which she called “antithetical to their chromosomal true biology.”

That assertion is refuted by major health organizations like the American Psychiatric Association, which has opposed conversion therapy since 1998 and said in a statement on its website that, “gender diverse patients have been shown to benefit from gender-affirming therapies.”

Additionally, research from The Trevor Project and published in the American Journal of Public Health concluded LGBTQ youth who were put in conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide than their peers who had not been through conversion therapy.

Theis also repeated an often-used, though debunked, argument against Proposal 3, which passed overwhelmingly in 2022 and enshrined the right to an abortion in Michigan’s constitution.

“What that means is that these children can have abortive services or transition services without parental knowledge,” she said. “They’ve got three days to get it done, and we can show over and over and over again how it’s not necessary, that there’s even an interview that they just go ahead and give you permission to get hormonal therapy … cross-sex therapy. It’s horrific.”

Schriver again stated at the end of the discussion that when it comes to gender affirming care they should “ban this for all people.”

“We’ll chat offline about all this good stuff,” answered Paquette, who then offered thanks to Click, as well.

“Let’s be in touch, as well, if you don’t mind, so we can make sure that Michigan can follow Ohio’s lead,” he said.

All of the Michigan legislators involved in the call were asked by the Michigan Advance to comment, but so far none have responded.

However, Democrats and other progressives have taken notice.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) posted to social media a link to the conversation, and noted that former Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon “and the entire culture war slate of the GOP lost in stunning fashion because they would rather attack kids than focus on issues like affordable housing.”

Meanwhile, Sam Inglot, executive director of Progress Michigan, also issued a statement about the conversation.

“The lengths to which Republican lawmakers have been willing to go publicly in their campaign to demonize, victimize, and isolate trans people are already despicable, but the comments made on this call go even further,” he said. “Gone are the flimsy and veiled comments—now, they’re admitting to their real intention: stripping away trans people’s fundamental right to pursue the care that’s right for them.”

Inglot said the discussion provided proof that the GOP’s opposition to trans health care was not about the procedures themselves.

“It’s about the hate, bigotry and cruelty that drives right-wing extremists, to the point where they would rather see trans people suffer than simply let them exist,” said Inglot, who promised to “fight tooth and nail to protect their rights and lives.”

This piece was republished from the Ohio Capital Journal.