‘I didn’t raise my kid to be trans’: Queer Nebraska senator defends her child in angry trans debate

A Nebraska senator revealed in the Lincoln legislature that her 12-year-old son is transgender, making the announcement during a contentious debate over a bill to limit gender-affirming treatments for children.

“This is my life and this is my reality,” said Megan Hunt, a senator representing an Omaha district who in 2018 became the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Nebraska legislature.

While two senators during Wednesday’s debate said they didn’t believe there was such a thing as a transgender person, Hunt said she didn’t “make” her son transgender.

“You all know me, you all know my family, and I hope you know that I did not raise my son to be trans,” she said.

I don’t understand it, I don’t have to understand it. But she was so happy to know that she had a son.

Opponents of the bill are seen protesting Wednesday inside the legislature in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Hunt spoke at the second day of the LB574 debate.

The bill, introduced by Senator Kathleen Kauth in January, seeks to “prohibit gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries for children under 19 years of age.”

It will be put to a vote on Thursday.

Supporters need 33 votes, or else the bill will likely be dead this session, a fate that looks increasingly likely.

Even getting to vote on the bill was a struggle: Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, a Democrat representing an Omaha district, spent three weeks obstructing the bill, calling it “genocide” and vowing to stop the legislation in protest.

“If this Legislature decides collectively that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I’m going to make it painful, painful for everyone,” said Cavanaugh, a married mother of three.

‘Because if you want to inflict pain on our children, I’m going to inflict pain on this body. I will burn the session to the ground over this bill.

He eventually decided to end his delaying tactic and allow a vote, explaining: ‘I want a record. I want the bloody hands registered. This is a genocide. This is an assault on a population of people because they are different from you.’

Kauth accused his opponents of seeking the spotlight.

Kathleen Kauth, who introduced the legislature, accused her opponents of bragging

Machaela Cavanaugh obstructed the bill for three weeks, bringing routine business to a halt.

Cavanaugh and husband Nick Brotzel are seen on the campaign trail

“We knew it would be very, very difficult, but the rhetoric seems a bit intense,” Kauth said.

Accusing those who support this bill of promoting genocide, while being Nazis, seems a bit of a stretch.

Kauth accused his opponents of “nasty hyperbole to get a lot of national media attention.”

She said the bill was not introduced “in a vacuum,” noting that there are currently 87 transgender-related bills in state legislatures.

Outside the legislature on Wednesday, a crowd of opponents of the bill gathered to protest.

Inside, Kauth told the camera that the bill was introduced to protect children.

“There are no long-term studies showing that these procedures and prescriptions resolve gender dysphoria,” she said.

“And there are studies, in countries with much greater experience and gender transitions, that advocate expectant management because the risk of young people receiving these prescriptions and procedures is simply too great.”

Protesters are seen in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday

Senator Brian Hardin of Gering and Senator Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn told the legislature that they believed there were only two genders and that transgender people do not exist.

Senator Steve Halloran compared parents who reject transgender treatment to parents who refuse to let their children drink alcohol.

“By today’s standards, I would be, and my wife would be, abusive parents,” he said.

That is a difficult admission to make.

‘Because at the time, as adults in the room, our children would come to us with the suggestion to do this or that.

‘And we would point out to them the risks of doing this or that.

‘Either having a party at a friend’s house, and that friend’s house was known for having drinking parties. And, of course, our children are minors.

We would say no.

Others said they weren’t sure about the science surrounding transgender people.

Hunt told the room that many of those who made the decision had never even met a transgender person.

She said she was initially unsure about bringing up her son.

“I was anxious to bring this up and I thought it might be a disservice to the debate if I did, but this is my life and this is my reality,” she said.

‘My son has not been able to get gender affirming care.

“There are no counselors to make children trans, there are no counselors to tell parents that they have to get their children to take these drugs or else they will commit suicide.

‘This is a scare tactic. It’s satanic panic. There is no truth in it because I lived it.

‘I am an affirming father. We did all the right things that you’re supposed to do and my son couldn’t get gender affirming care,” Hunt said.

She added: “I want to have a happy and healthy child like every parent of a trans youth feels.”

Hunt said that many of those who participated in the discussion did not understand the reality facing his family.

“Another thing you don’t understand is the issue of access in Nebraska,” Hunt said.

‘My son is not taking puberty blockers, my son is not taking hormones, my son has certainly not had any surgery. You know why? Because Medicaid denied it four times.

“I am a state senator, I am a woman with resources, power and privilege, and my son has not been able to receive gender-affirming care,” she said.

“That’s the reality of what transgender healthcare is like in Nebraska.”

Sen. John Fredrickson, a licensed mental health physician from Omaha and a supporter of the bill, agreed with Hunt.

He said the debate had veered into misinformation about standards of care and screening protocols, noting that “parental involvement and consent is always required.”

Hunt said supporters of the bill were unaware of what it meant.

“This is fake, this has nothing to do with real life,” he said.

‘This is all of you playing government when I have to go home and live it.’