Okla. Gov. Stitt Gives Rousing Speech to Ban Gender-Transition Surgeries for Minors [VIDEO]
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt received a standing ovation for calling on lawmakers in his state to pass legislation that “bans all gender-transition surgeries” for minors.
Oklahoma proposing legislation that would ban gender-transition surgeries for minors would have them join 25 other states considering the same.
Stitt addressed the issue in his 2023 State of the State address, saying minors are prohibited from participating in other activities, including purchasing alcohol and voting.
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Governor Kevin Stitt receives a standing ovation, calling for the legislature “to send me a bill that bans all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors in the state of Oklahoma!”
We’ve got more than one coming, Governor. Thank you! @GovStitt pic.twitter.com/u2CAXj0q4E
— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@BillboardChris) February 7, 2023
“We must protect our most vulnerable, our children,” Stitt said, explaining that “minors can’t vote, can’t purchase alcohol, can’t purchase cigarettes.”
The speech received significant attention from conservatives galvanized by the plan and liberals who expressed outrage.
The governor stated that minors should not be allowed to undergo cosmetic operations, such as gender-transition surgeries that are ‘life-altering.’ Legislators gave him a standing ovation during the speech.
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“We shouldn’t allow a minor to get a permanent gender-altering surgery in Oklahoma,” he continued. “That’s why I am calling on the legislature to send me a bill that bans all gender-transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors in the state.”
Other states that have attempted to pass legislation limiting so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors and religious freedom bills have faced stiff opposition from left-wing activists and hundreds of America’s largest corporations.
Stitt said that he would not be ‘intimidated’ by such groups during his State of the State speech.
The Oklahoma Governor said he would “never shy away from calling out right from wrong” and said he “will not be intimidated by partisan interest groups or make decisions based on groupthink.”
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"As governor, Stitt vowed to "never shy away from calling out right from wrong" and insisted that he "will not be intimidated by partisan interest groups or make decisions based on groupthink."" https://t.co/W6CscBP6Qh #FoxNews
— 🇺🇸🍊🧡southerngalpal 🧡🍊🇺🇸 (@belleofva) February 7, 2023
Stitt has repeatedly expressed interest in banning gender-transition surgeries for minors, saying that minors’ brains are not ‘fully developed,’ so they should not be able to make life-altering decisions.
“We have a duty to protect minors from a lot of things: we don’t let them drink, we don’t let them get tattoos,” Stitt told Fox News last October. “Their brains aren’t fully developed.”
“This is not something we’re going to allow to be done to minors and use taxpayer dollars,” he added at the time.
The governor has stated that he is a strong proponent of “traditional family values” and told Fox last year that “healthy children being permanently altered either through hormone therapy” or some other type of surgery is “not going to happen in Oklahoma.”
While polls leading up to the 2022 Oklahoma Gubernatorial election showed a tight race, Stitt won re-election with a commanding victory margin of 14%.
Oklahoma Election Results: Incumbent Kevin Stitt wins re-election bid for governor https://t.co/5Y1oBooFtq pic.twitter.com/1ywrJxdZLs
— CC of Oklahoma (@CCofOklahoma) November 9, 2022
As Stitt begins his second term as Governor of Oklahoma, he told legislators that he “will continue my responsibility to lead, not follow.”
Republican leaders in the Oklahoma legislature appear likely to back the agenda laid out by Stitt, as the Vice Chair of the Oklahoma Senate Republican Caucus, David Bullard, has made statements similar to the Governors.
“We want to make sure that if we’re going to do a procedure like this that is irreversible, then we want to make sure an individual is at their full maturity when it comes to cognitive development,” said Bullard.
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Stitt’s announcement came just a day after a protest at the Oklahoma Capitol where trans activists protested supposed discrimination against transgender people.
Benjamin Patterson, a trans man who was one of the organizers of the Capitol protest, told student outlet OU Nightly he wanted to ‘bring the community together.’
He called Oklahoma’s laws regarding trans people’ genocide’, claiming it would lead to more trans youths taking their own lives.
Oklahoma Governor Stitt’s full State of the State speech:
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