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On Tuesday, outcries from LGBTQ rights advocate to formally reprimand a Kansas state lawmaker for a statement saying she didn’t want to share the women’s comfort room with a transgender associate at the Statehouse emerged.
The top Republican from Kansas House described GOP stated Representative Cheryl Helmer’s remarks as “unfortunate,” while Democrats denounced them.
A key LGBTQ rights activist of the state perceived “a new level of toxic bigotry” in Helmer’s emailed comments to a University of Kansas student and following interviews about Democratic state Representative Stephanie Byers.
The rage for Helmer’s comments gloomed over GOP lawmakers’ effort to countermand Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s overrule of a bill that would prohibit transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s K-12 and college sports.
“We know this has been going on in offices and back rooms and conversations since the day I was elected,” stated Byers on Tuesday. “The shocking part is that it came out, that someone actually said it.”
Meanwhile, Helmer held onto her statements, even as she defended a bill she co-sponsored that would make it a felony for doctors to give hormones or operate gender transition surgery on children under 18 years old.
She further stated that she was concerned about the young children’s safety, those who dropped by the Statehouse and criticized what she described as an “in your face” slant to advocating transgender rights from Byers, the first elected transgender lawmaker in the state.
Helmer also added that she attempted to accentuate a keynote when she entered a men’s comfort room by accident in the House in early 2021. But, according to the 70-year-old lawmaker, the men were shocked and uncomfortable, so she asked whether they would be okay with women constantly using their comfort room.
Upset with Monday’s issue, she stated that parents should not be permitted to alter their child’s gender.
“You can’t lop a penis off and then expect, you know, a little boy to now live his life,” she stated. “He’ll be in regret for the rest of his life.”
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