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The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate on Tuesday legislation that would all but ban gender-affirming care for transgender people of any age in the state.
House Bill 2177, by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, not only would ban all gender-reassignment therapies for minors, including hormones, puberty-blockers and surgery, but also would bar state funds or private insurers from covering those procedures for anyone, including adults.
Adults could still receive the treatments but would have to pay for them out of their own pockets.
The bill passed 80-18 along strict party lines, with Republicans arguing that they were protecting children and Democrats contending that they actually were doing the opposite.
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HB 2177 is similar to Senate Bill 613, by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, which passed the Senate two weeks ago. SB 613 does not include a prohibition on private insurance and would apply only to minors.
Although the outcome was not in doubt, the House spent more than two hours on HB 2177 as Democrats peppered West with questions and forced debate. The proceedings were intently watched by a crowd mostly opposed to the bill that let its feelings be known through applause and occasional outbursts. A few were ordered out of the gallery; after announcement of the final vote, someone could be heard shouting, “You’re killing children.”
A few minutes later, Olsen and fellow Rep. Bob Ed Culver, R-Tahlequah, were doused with water in a passageway outside the chamber. At least one person was reportedly arrested and Culver said he would press charges because the person scuffled with Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers.
West and most of those speaking in favor of HB 2177 insisted it is not anti-trans and tended to describe transgender people, and especially transgender minors, as mentally ill or psychologically damaged.
Rep. Randy Randleman, R-Eufaula, the Legislature’s only child psychologist, said “transgenderism” is mostly the result of the person’s “relationship with their father” or some other trauma, an assessment that didn’t set well with Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, who has a transgender child with whom he is close.
Rep. J.J. Humphrey, R-Lane, never the most subtle House member, said allowing people to believe they are transgender is comparable to allowing someone who thinks they’re Superman to jump off a building.
“The very fact you have to request a surgery to change your sex, Scooby-Doo would call that a clue,” Humphrey said. “And Scooby-Doo would also say, ‘Ruh-roh.’”
West and Olsen presented their bill as mostly about protecting minors from unproven, dangerous and in the case of surgery, irreversible treatments and procedures, but in practice the greater impact might be the ban on insurance coverage for adults.
“With the emergency (clause) on this bill and the insurance clause, we are effectively saying if folks cannot afford the out-of-pocket (expenses) they need to survive, they cannot stay in Oklahoma,” said Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, the Legislature’s only openly non-binary member. “That’s saying our trans community is not welcome in Oklahoma.”
West, a cabinetmaker by trade who has immersed himself in issues such as COVID-19 precautions, vaccines and abortion, acknowledged he has no medical training, but said he has studied transgender treatments and procedures enough to know that none are unanimously endorsed by professionals in the field. That, he said, is reason enough to prevent minors from receiving anything other than counseling and psychological care.
But he, too, sounded skeptical of the notion that many, if any, people are truly transgender.
“Denying the truth that we are either male or female hurts real people, especially vulnerable children,” West said in closing debate. “Science and common sense tells us children are not mature enough to properly evaluate the serious lifelong ramifications when making important medical decisions. This bill will allow these children the opportunity to grow and realize who they are before receiving life-altering procedures.”
Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, calls the bill “a pause button” for gender-affirming procedures until the patient reaches age 18.
Tulsa-area state legislators and how to contact them
Sen. Nathan Dahm
DISTRICT 33
Sen. Nathan Dahm (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South and east Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5551
Sen. Dana Prieto

DISTRICT 34
Sen. Dana Prieto (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Owasso and northern Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5566
Email Sen. Prieto
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett

DISTRICT 35
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: South and central Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5624
Sen. John Haste

DISTRICT 36
Sen. John Haste (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Eastern Tulsa County, western Wagoner County
Phone: 405-521-5602
Email Sen. Haste
Sen. Todd Gollihare

DISTRICT 12
Sen. Todd Gollihare (R)
Hometown: Kellyville
District area: Creek County
Phone: 405-521-5528
Sen. Kevin Matthews

DISTRICT 11
Sen. Kevin Matthews (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northern Tulsa, southeast Osage County
Phone: 405-521-5598
Sen. Joe Newhouse

DISTRICT 25
Sen. Joe Newhouse (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South Tulsa, Bixby, Broken Arrow and Jenks
Phone: 405-521-5675
Sen. Dave Rader

DISTRICT 39
Sen. Dave Rader (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Central and south Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5620
Sen. Cody Rogers

DISTRICT 37
Sen. Cody Rogers (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District Area: West Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5600
Rep. Meloyde Blancett

DISTRICT 78
Rep. Meloyde Blancett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7334
Rep. Jeff Boatman

DISTRICT 67
Rep. Jeff Boatman (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7341
Rep. Amanda Swope

DISTRICT 71
Rep. Amanda Swope (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Brookside in Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7361
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber

DISTRICT 70
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7359
Email Rep. Schreiber
Rep. Dean Davis

DISTRICT 98
Rep. Dean Davis (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Elm Place in east Broken Arrow, east to 248th East Avenue
Phone: 405-557-7362
Rep. Mark Tedford

DISTRICT 69
Rep. Mark Tedford (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Jenks, Bixby and Tulsa between those cities
Phone: 405-557-7331
Rep. Scott Fetgatter

DISTRICT 16
Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R)
Hometown: Okmulgee
District area: Okmulgee County and the southeastern tip of Tulsa County
Phone: 405-557-7373
Rep. Ross Ford

DISTRICT 76
Rep. Ross Ford (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: West Broken Arrow
Phone: 405-557-7347
Rep. Regina Goodwin

DISTRICT 73
Rep. Regina Goodwin (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Downtown and northwest Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7406
Rep. Kyle Hilbert

DISTRICT 29
Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R)
Hometown: Depew
District area: Westernmost Tulsa County, Creek County
Phone: 405-557-7353
Rep. Mark Lawson

DISTRICT 30
Rep. Mark Lawson (R)
Hometown: Sapulpa
District area: Sapulpa, Mounds, southwest Tulsa County
Phone: 405- 557-7414
Rep. T.J. Marti

DISTRICT 75
Rep. T.J. Marti (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7356
Rep. Stan May

DISTRICT 80
Rep. Stan May (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Southeast Tulsa County; small section of southwest Wagoner County
Phone: 405-557-7338
Rep. Monroe Nichols

DISTRICT 72
Rep. Monroe Nichols (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast corner of Inner Dispersal Loop to Owasso; also includes Turley and Sperry
Phone: 405-557-7391
Rep. Clay Staires

DISTRICT 66
Rep. Clay Staires (R)
Hometown: Skiatook
District area: Sand Springs, west Tulsa between Arkansas River and Osage County line and Riverview
Phone: 405-557-7390
Rep. Terry O’Donnell

DISTRICT 23
Rep. Terry O’Donnell (R)
Hometown: Catoosa
District area: Catoosa, east Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7379
Rep. Melissa Provenzano

DISTRICT 79
Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East and southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7330
Rep. Lonnie Sims

DISTRICT 68
Rep. Lonnie Sims (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: West Tulsa County from the bend of Arkansas River down to Glenpool
Phone: 405-557-7340
Rep. John Kane

DISTRICT 11
Rep. John Kane (R)
Hometown: Bartlesville
District area: Bartlesville, north Tulsa County including Collinsville
Phone: 405-557-7358
Rep. Mark Vancuren

DISTRICT 74
Rep. Mark Vancuren (R)
Hometown: Owasso
District area: Suburban Owasso
Phone: 405-557-7377
Rep. John Waldron

DISTRICT 77
Rep. John Waldron (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7410
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