'I am what they're scared of': Transgender youths rally at Kansas Statehouse

Over 150 LGBT individuals and their allies rallied Friday at the Statehouse to urge the Kansas Legislature to change course away from passing a slate of bills they believe will erase the transgender community in the state.

Lawmakers are expected to vote next week on whether to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a ban on transgender athletes in women's sports and officials must also make a decision about a bill that would require transgender individuals use the bathroom corresponding with their birth sex, as well as an effort to criminalize gender affirming care for minors.

More: Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes transgender athletes ban, setting up legislative showdown

The activists at the Statehouse demanded legislators back off that agenda and instead take steps to make the state more inclusive for transgender youths. It corresponded with dozens of other events across the country, including at least two others in Kansas, on Transgender Day of Visibility.

Justin Brace, executive director of Transgender Kansas, said the group's staff had faced threats over showing up at the rally. Brace received threatening letters in the male, and two Black, transgender staffers opted not to come after receiving death threats over social media.

While Brace communicated with police about the rally, showing up was never in doubt.

"We knew we were going to come out no matter what," Brace said. "When trans rights are at issue, you can't let threats stand in the way."

Dozens of transgender youths and their allies spoke, expressing fears that the legislation — particularly the bill to criminalize hormone therapy and other care for trans young people — would cause a rise in depression and suicidal ideation and would effectively erase transgender individuals across Kansas.

More: Kansas proposals to limit transgender athletes and health care advance in Legislature

Ian Benalcázar, a 13-year-old transgender male from Lawrence, said the Legislature was going to do away with a crucial freedom for him and his friends, many of whom are also transgender or gender nonbinary.

The freedom to decide when and how to transition, he said, should be an individual choice that lawmakers should not interfere with.

"I am what they're scared of," Benalcázar said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas transgender youths rally, oppose anti-LGBT bills in Statehouse