OKLAHOMA CITY — In response to the House General Government Committee advancing SB 627, a bill previously related to the Red River boundaries now containing dormant language from HB 1888 prohibiting training or counseling related to sexual or gender diversity, Freedom Oklahoma and the ACLU of Oklahoma issued the following statement:
The following is attributable to Allie Shinn, Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director:
“We’re saddened to see that certain members of the Legislature are so dedicated to making extreme attacks on Oklahoma’s women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ populations that they are willing to circumvent their own procedure to do so. Hundreds of Oklahomans called and emailed their representatives to make clear this language is unacceptable. Despite strong messages from Oklahomans, however, Rep. Williams is continuing to push his extreme agenda and doing so at the expense of his constituents and the Legislature's procedural rules. Rep. Williams can make all the excuses for this bill that he wants, but the truth remains he is shirking his responsibility to improve the lives of his constituents in favor of publicly bullying women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ who call this state home.”
The following is attributable to Nicole McAfee, ACLU of Oklahoma Director of Policy and Advocacy:
“Human dignity is not conditional. Identities and their expression do not devalue or diminish the humanity or worth of any person, and when we better know and understand fully the identities of the people we learn with, work with, and who are served by our public bodies, we are better as a community and a state. The fact that today especially, on a day when we celebrate the vibrancy of Oklahoma’s trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, and two-spirit community members, the legislature is circumventing rules and process to revive fear-based legislation that centers ignorance over humanity is not only disappointing, it is unacceptable. House leadership should spend no further time on this sham committee substitute in SB 627, and instead focus on policies that meet the needs of all Oklahomans.”
