GOP bill would take trans kids away from their parents if they violate new bathroom law

A bill proposed in Kentucky would allow the state to remove trans kids from their homes for using bathrooms at school that align with their gender identities rather than their biological sex.

Sponsored by state Rep. Jason Petrie (R), H.B. 747 does not explicitly mention trans kids or bathrooms, but instead uses broad language that subtly refers to a state anti-trans law that passed in 2023. The new bill seeks to add a definition of child abuse to state law, describing it as “a parent’s failure to properly supervise, instruct, train, or control his or her child” with that failure leading to “the child’s violation of the school board’s code of acceptable behavior and discipline adopted under KRS Chapter 158.”

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KRS Chapter 158 bans trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not align with their biological sex, as laid out in S.B. 150, which also bans doctors from providing gender-affirming care for trans youth. The ACLU of Kentucky called the legislation “one of the worst anti-trans laws in the nation” when it passed last year.

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In essence, the proposed bill could define a trans girl using the girl’s bathroom at school as a form of parental neglect because they were unable to “control” their child.

Activist Allison Chapman brought attention to the bill on X, pointing out that it was “easy to miss because it did not directly call out parents of trans kids and required existing knowledge of S.B.150, which was passed last year.”

Kentucky’s S.B. 150 passed in March after state Republicans overrode a veto by Gov. Andy Beshear (D).  In addition to banning gender-affirming care for trans youth and denying use of bathrooms aligning with gender identity in schools, the law conflates and excludes LGBTQ+-related topics and information on sexually transmitted diseases from sex education and prohibits school staff and students from properly addressing trans-identifying minors.

Seven families of transgender youth – represented by the ACLU of Kentucky and the National Center for Lesbian Rights – are currently suing the state over the law’s gender-affirming care ban.