SB 613 was signed into law last night. It’s intentionally cruel. The Senate used the lives and health of trans kids as a pawn in a political power game. And, as expected, the folks who lost are Two Spirit, trans, and gender nonconforming (2STGNC+) youth; medical providers; and families of 2STGNC+ kids. This sucks. It’s unquestionably awful. Monday night, after hours, when he hoped he could break the news instead of media, Governor Kevin Stitt signed SB 613, making a ban on transition-related physical healthcare for trans Oklahomans under 18 effective with an emergency. There is a six month tapering off period for people currently receiving care, and the promise of litigation we asked from litigation orgs to have ready for this very possibility. And we know that’s still too much harm and uncertainty to have to bear.

Rep Mauree Turner was censured by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on March 7, 2023. We made statements about the censure in real time across social media, and wanted to put that information into a blog post for people to access information about this undemocratic act meant to silence 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans.

The Oklahoma Senate took the politicization of trans lives and trans bodies to a new low, ramming through House amendments to SB 613 on Thursday evening. Rather than engaging in thoughtful policymaking to consider and discuss amendments, they advanced SB 613 amended by the House with an emergency at the last minute, calling the Governor's bluff on promised vetoes. If signed by the governor, or if vetoed and overridden by the legislature, the bill would immediately impact the access to healthcare for trans Oklahomans, without regard for the potential side effects, physical, mental, and emotional, for those youth losing access to life-saving care or the doctors forced to act counter to best practice guidelines.

In response to advancement of the latest attack on best practice medical care for Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming (2STGNC+) Oklahomans, Freedom Oklahoma, ACLU of Oklahoma, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes again call on the Oklahoma Legislature to stop threatening the safety and survival of already marginalized youth to advance partisan and personal political agendas. SB 613 would force medical detransition against provider recommendations and best practice guidelines for 2STGNC+ Oklahomans under 18, ban best practice medical care for transgender Oklahomans under 18 going forward, while threatening medical providers with civil action, and license penalties. This policy would effectively end live-saving, best practice medical care for transgender youth across Oklahoma, as part of the wave of anti-trans legislation being pushed by established hate groups and extremists being introduced in state legislatures across the country.