Freedom Oklahoma Responds to Senate Advancement of Measuring Targeting Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Oklahomans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2024
Nicole McAfee (they/she), Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director, nicole@freedomoklahoma.org, 830-334-1660
Oklahoma City, OK – Today the Senate author of HB 1449, the trans erasure act, admitted to pulling a similar measure from the floor earlier in session, acknowledging the harm of the bill’s anti-trans purpose and rhetoric on 2STGNC+ Oklahomans grieving the loss of Nex Benedict. But it seems one caucus in the legislature has decided the space to disrupt the harm targeted at our most vulnerable community members is over, in favor of election years politics at the expense of 2STNGC+ safety and lives, as demonstrated with the party line vote advancing HB 1449, the trans erasure act.
Following the passage of this bill and the accompanying rhetoric, Freedom Oklahoma issued the following statement:
“Many thought that the death of Nex Benedict, a gender expansive youth in Owasso who experienced bullying and physical violence at school for his transness, might be enough for the Oklahoma to put people ahead of politics. But today the Oklahoma Senate proved that they’re unwilling to put the safety of 2STGNC+ people, particularly our youth who face the first and most harmful enforcement of anti-trans policies, ahead of their partisan political agendas. Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming people have always been and will always be in Oklahoma,” said Nicole McAfee, Executive Director of Freedom Oklahoma. “We won’t pretend HB 1449 is actually about women or rights, because today more so than any point before, the author and those who lent their voices and votes to the advancement of this vile policy made it clear this is about trans exclusion. They can attempt to change the statutory definitions of terms, make up concepts like “biological sex,” but it doesn’t change the reality that their discomfort exists in trans people being more visible than before, despite always existing. Our community has not had a chance to properly grieve Nex, as we’ve continued to face attacks from out of state media extremists, our puppet State Board of Education, and now back at our legislature. We deserve the safety to thrive in Oklahoma. To grieve, to exist, to go to school, to use a bathroom, to live to see adulthood, as our full selves. This sham piece of legislation is a cheap shot at a community that already clearly understands many of those in power don’t see us as welcome, as full members of the broader Oklahoma community deserving of basic dignity and respect. And if we can’t change their minds, we’ll just have to continue to change the conditions that allow them to be in power. We belong here.”
Pronouns:
Nicole McAfee, they/she
Freedom Oklahoma is the state's only dedicated 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy organization and works each day to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ people have the safety to thrive. You can learn more about Freedom Oklahoma at https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/.
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