Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear Gives Pitch Perfect Answer On Why He Vetoed Anti-Trans Bill

Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear gave a pitch-perfect answer on why he vetoed "one of the nastiest anti-LGBTQ+ bills that my state had ever seen" despite the fact that he was up for reelection in deep-red Kentucky.

Last year, Beshear vetoed Senate Bill 150, a bill that bans all gender-affirming care for transgender youth, saying at the time that the legislation "tears away the freedom of parents to make important and difficult medical decisions for their kids.”

The bill, which is now law in Kentucky after the state's GOP legislative majorities overrode Beshear's veto, prohibits schools from addressing topics related to gender identity or sexual orientation with students of any age and permits teachers to decline using a student's preferred pronouns.

Speaking to Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan more than a year-and-a-half after vetoing the legislation, he was asked to respond to Massachusetts Democratic Representative Seth Moulton's recent comments about transgender girls in sports. Moulton expressed concern about his two children potentially being “run over on a playing field” by what he referred to as a “male or formerly male athlete,” though he did not provide any evidence of such incidents occurring.

Beshear was firm that he would not stop supporting the LGBTQ+ community:

"I think all candidates should stand up for their beliefs and that we don't have to abandon those beliefs. I voted down one of the nastiest anti-LGBTQ+ bills that my state had ever seen, in my election year."

"But I did two things. Number one: I talked about why. That’s my faith, where I’m taught that all children are children of God, and I wanted to stick up for children [who] were being picked on."

“But the second thing [is] voters in my state knew the very next day, I was going to be working on jobs. I was going to be opening a new health clinic, first hospital in our largest African American neighbourhood in 150 years, we just cut the ribbon on. We’ve created two pediatric autism centres in Appalachia, so that people don’t have to drive two hours.”

"It's about sharing your life, your authentic life and your views, but the other piece is that focus because remember: If we're talking about this issue today and then about what Donald Trump said last night and then we're talking about jobs, we're only spending a third of the time talking about what people are worried about and what impacts their lives the most."

You can hear what he said in the video below.

Beshear was praised for his remarks.

Beshear's appearance on the program comes just two months after signing an executive order banning conversion therapy in his state.

During the signing ceremony, he said "conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science, and it has been shown to increase rates of suicide and depression," adding that "all children are children of God" and that "where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act."

With this legal action, Kentucky has become one of more than two dozen states and regions to ban these practices, a step celebrated by LGBTQ+ Kentuckians and human rights organizations.