By Guy Page
Vermont Democrat leadership in the Vermont Legislature today emphatically supported the disruptive transgender activists who prevented the presentation of the Wednesday, March 12 Detransitioning Awareness Day educational event at the Vermont State House.
In case you missed it: When the Vermont Family Alliance started its scheduled 1 PM Detransitioning Awareness Day event in a State House room they had reserved for that purpose, a handful of transgendered activists sang, danced, and shouted non-stop in what they called a “Trans Takeover.” (Rep. Jubilee McGill, D-Bridport, promoted the Takeover event on Facebook.)
‘Take Over,’ they did, with no attempt to stop them by State House Sergeant-At-Arms Agatha Kessler, who is responsible for State House room reservations and decorum. She announced she would order the room emptied in five minutes and have the doors closed. She did not ask Capitol police to ask the disrupters to leave.
Detransitioning advocate Renee McGuinness of the Vermont Family Alliance, and others among the several dozen who traveled to Montpelier to attend and learn, said the non-stop disruptions effectively abridged their right to free speech in ‘the People’s House.’ In effect, they said, the People’s House on Wednesay was only for the people who shouted the loudest.
And that’s apparently okay with the majority leaders of the House and Senate.
In a statement released by the Vermont Democrat Party Wednesday night, there was no mention of the forcible seizure of Vermont citizen’s free speech rights. Instead, the statement seemed to suggest that the Detransitioning Awareness Day message – that some people, like Chloe Cole, are so unhappy about transitioning that they have exercised their individual bodily autonomy to detransition – is “dangerous”:
“Vermont has long stood for the values of freedom, fairness, and respect for all people. These values demand that we recognize and support the rights of transgender and nonbinary Vermonters to live openly, safely, and with the same access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as anyone else. Attempts to use one person’s private experiences as a tool to infringe upon the rights of others are not only misguided but dangerous.”
Majority leaders in both the Vermont House and Senate echoed the sentiment of equating discussion of detransitioning with fear tactics.
‘We reject any efforts to turn their existence into a political debate. Everyone should be free to live authentically and without fear—this is the foundation of a truly free and just society,” Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden), was quoted in the statement. Sen. Hinsdale did not expound on how one person sharing their own experience threatens another person’s right to “live authentically and without fear.”
House Majority Leader Lori Houghton (D-Essex) enthused about the outcome of the event: “It’s at times like this that I’m proud to live in Vermont. We will rally around our neighbors and I encourage people to connect and stay connected to their community.” Several of the Detransitioning Day attendees denied the opportunity to hear Chloe Cole’s story by video were residents of the Essex community.
Conor Kennedy, Chief of Staff for House Speaker Jill Krowinski, said Thursday morning he witnessed the event just briefly and that he and the Speaker have not had a chance to discuss it. He said it’s likely the disruption will be discussed by State House and legislative leaders. But he added that groups seeking to ensure that they not be interrupted and shouted down by other groups might want to consider holding their meeting in a private room, rather than in a public space like the Legislature.
However, the standard is different for legislative bodies (committees, floor gatherings of House and Senate) meeting to carry out their constitutionally-established duties, Kennedy said.