Committee approves ban on taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries, narrows hormone access amid legal concerns

The House Standing Committee on the Judiciary voted to advance Senate Bill 2, a measure that would prohibit the use of public funds for gender-affirming surgeries in Kentucky correctional facilities and would restrict access to certain hormone treatments.

Senator Mike Wilson, sponsor of the bill, told committee members the Department of Corrections had been implementing policies via internal memos and that those policies should instead be adopted through administrative regulation or statute. "It is inappropriate for these policies and procedures to be implemented on the department's website by memorandum," Wilson said, and asked the committee to consider the regulation that prompted the measure.

The committee heard extended testimony from both opponents and supporters. Opponents included Serenity Johnson, a resident and transgender Kentuckian; Chloe Atwater of the Kentucky Equal Justice Center; Dr. Eric Russ of the Kentucky Psychological…