An elderly Wisconsin conservative who was invited to speak at a public hearing in support of a piece of anti-trans legislation had a change of heart
The man, named Larry, attended Wednesday night's public hearing to support the state's Assembly Bill 104, which seeks to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors.
But after speaking—and listening—to members of the LGBTQ+ community while waiting hours in an overflow room, he changed his mind and went viral for his speech addressing lawmakers.
“I was invited here to give my support for Bill 104,” said Larry, and continued:
“I have very little knowledge of gay people and things like that. So, when I came here, my eyes were opened.”
Larry admitted he was "one of the critics that sat on the side and made the decision that there were only two genders."
"So I got an education that was unbelievable," he said of his eye-opening interaction with opponents of the bill.
He added:
"I don't know exactly how to say this…But my perspective for people has changed.”
Larry apologized for being at the hearing and said he learned a lot about "this group of people."
Social media users were moved by Larry's pivot towards understanding and compassion.
AB 104, the latest in a series of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced by Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, would ban gender-affirming medical care for individuals under the age of 18 in the state.
The transphobic legislation would ban "health care providers from engaging in, causing, or referring minors for medical practices aimed at altering their bodies to align with a gender that does not correspond to their biological sex."
Democratic Representative Lisa Subeck from Madison said:
“After sitting through the hearing on this bill yesterday, I would hope some people are taking a step back and saying, wait a minute, maybe this isn’t the route that we should go."
She said she spoke to her colleagues the next day and became emotional discussing the upcoming vote on the bill.
“The governor is going to veto [the bill]. I feel really good about that,” Subeck said, adding, “I don’t feel so good about the fact that we’re gonna have a vote here where people are gonna vote to support this.”
The bill comes as Trump signed executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ youth—specifically the transgender community—including an anti-trans policy where U.S. citizens select one of two genders, male or female, on U.S. passports.
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