Watch Ohio parents testify against the sterilization of their children
Ohio families testify in support of protecting children from being subjected to transgender drugs and surgeries
COLUMBUS—Yesterday, parents, grandparents, and a detransitioned adolescent shared their heart-wrenching experiences with the gender-medicine industry, in support of the SAFE (Save Adolescents From Experimentation) Act (House Bill 454). The SAFE Act would prohibit doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, wrong-sex hormones, and “gender transition” surgeries for children.
Below, you can find a short biography, recording, and a testimony transcript for each of the witnesses. Please be aware that the testimonies deal with sensitive topics, and are not safe for the whole family.
Witnesses are required to submit a written copy of their testimonies usually 24 hours in advance, so you may notice that the witnesses occasionally speak more from their hearts and less from their papers. This is permissible, with the added benefit of making a more moving testimony.
The Witnesses and Their Testimonies
Biography: Jane Williams and her husband have been fighting for their daughter’s health and wellbeing for many years, but have been disillusioned by the care they received and feel completely let down by the medical community.
At 14, she was admitted to inpatient care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital North College Hill for a week. The doctor never spoke with us during her stay, did not return calls and never met us in person. We were never given a formal mental health diagnosis for our daughter. We later learned that our daughter was severely traumatized during her hospital stay by other patients and staff. Shortly after the hospital stay she declared she was a boy. She insisted on new pronouns and said she wanted to dress “masculine.”
Biography: David Mahan is a husband, father, minister, and CCV’s Policy Director and cohost of The Narrative Podcast.
There are two ways to look at pediatric sex-change procedures. At the very best, they can be viewed as experimental—especially here in the U.S. where we are relatively new to the practice. However, in countries where the practice has been carried out for decades like Finland, Australia, Sweden, France and the U.K., the results are in, and however we may want to spin or discredit the research to fit our prospective narratives, one fact is irrefutable: all these countries have decided to walk-back their decades-long practice of medically “transitioning” children.
Biography: Ronli Brown is the mother of a now seventeen-year-old boy who began questioning his gender identity at age fourteen, just as he was beginning high school.
The therapist I entrusted to my son's mental health ignored his diagnosable mental health issues in order to affirm his self-diagnosed gender identity, and proceeded to advocate for immediate hormone therapy that would lead to sterility and irreversible medical procedures... my son was 14. I wasn't asked about his mental health history or what the goals of therapy were. I was asked if I wanted a dead son or a living daughter.
Biography: Chloe Cole is a seventeen-year-old young woman who was medically transitioning from ages 13 to 16, after coming out to her parents as a transgender boy at the age of twelve.
Despite all these consultations and classes, I don't feel like I understood all the ramifications that came with any of the medical decisions I was making. I didn't realize how traumatic the recovery would be, and it wasn't until I was almost a year post-op that I realized I may want to breastfeed my future children. I will never be able to do that as a mother.
Biography: Andrea Smith is the mom of a gender-dysphoric daughter who has suffered a variety of mental health struggles since a young age. At the end of 8th grade, Andrea's daughter was in a relationship with a then-boyfriend, which later become emotionally- and sexually-abusive. Andrea's daughter came out as trans about a year later.
I didn’t know where to turn, so I tried the Transgender Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. A social worker interviewed me and I recounted my daughter’s history of depression, suicidal ideation, and the sexual assault. The Clinic’s immediate response amounted to admitting her to the clinic for social transitioning, fitting her with a chest binder, and administering medication to halt her menstrual cycle. There was no mention of any psychological evaluation and therapy for the dysphoria or assault trauma.
Biography: Michael Cooper's granddaughter, with the support of her dad, began using male pronouns and a masculine name at the age of twelve. The judge who oversaw the Cooper's family court case prohibited both Michael and his daughter Jeannette (the girl's mom—who also testified last week) from visiting due to a claim that Michael's granddaughter is transgender and felt "unsafe" with them.
I am likely the most senior individual in the room. I have been down the road and back, and around the block numerous times. ... Even though there are some who have made sexual changes to their bodies over the years, the transgender idea has exploded. ... Anything that explodes like this is a fad. It has no base, no building blocks. ... It will die down, not only because something else will replace it, but those who trans will discover issues and problems which will be exposed.
But, in the meantime, it cannot be ignored. Too many young people could be hurt.
Biography: Lisa Breedlove Chaffee is the Director of Ohio Parents' Rights In Education, a national organization dedicated to valuing students and empowering parents.
There are some teachers who literally tell girls who say they are tomboys they are transgender. That happened to my friend’s daughter. Schools are usurping the authority of parents by telling students to lie to their parents about their struggle because "parents aren’t safe." Parents are terrified to speak up for fear the schools will report them to child protective services if they do not affirm the child. And that is happening in Ohio.
Biography: Kelly Wagner believed she was born gay, often wore men's clothing and cologne, and was even in a same-sex relationship with a woman she planned to marry. When she was 24, she was able to deal with her root issues of depression, broken self-image, and eating disorders. She also left behind the LGBT lifestyle she was living, and has now been happily married to her husband for nearly 18 years.
I am so thankful that no one ever told me that ending my life as a female and turning into a male could help ease my pain, depression, confusion, or suicidal thoughts. I would have been very vulnerable to these types of suggestions from anyone because I was desperately searching for “the thing” that would bring me peace.
Biography: Ursula Smith is the grandmother of two girls that she was given de facto guardianship of after their parents abandoned them at the ages of six and nine. Their childhood was unfortunately filled with trauma and uncertainty, along with serious medical complications. When the younger granddaughter was 15, with the help of her other grandmother, she started to pursue transgender treatments from their local Children's Gender Clinic.
The last I heard she was saving up for a bilateral mastectomy, yet she’s in a relationship with a biological male and has left home to live with him. I just don’t understand. I think there is more to her story than suddenly wanting to be a boy, and there is no evidence that this has improved her life. In fact, she remains mostly isolated and has a dark outlook on life. Now at 18, she barely graduated from high school, is living with a boyfriend, and not pursuing her dreams.
Written-Only Testimonies
Click here to view CCV's SAFE Act fact sheet.
Click here to read the SAFE Act.
For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or info@ccv.org.
As Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.
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