Click tells Sandusky County Republicans DeWine was wrong to veto HB 68

FREMONT ― Rep. Gary Click spoke at the January Republican dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday, where he joined the chorus of Republican voices urging an override of Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68.

Glick, R-Vickery, was a co-sponsor of the bill, referred to as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act.

“Several presidential candidates have weighed in on it, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis — all said this should be the law and we ought to override this immediately. So we’re getting national attention out of this," Click said.

“We need to do the right thing. It’s harmful to kids," he said.

Click also planned to speak to the Family Research Council this week.

“I’m going to talk about how it’s unfortunate that the governor didn’t consider all the information, and that he made a faulty decision on faulty information. He listened to the people who make a profit off of this," Click said.

Click said DeWine's decision of SAFE was wrong

"I believe the governor is sincere, but you can be sincere and still be wrong," Click said. "They call that being sincerely wrong, and he was wrong in his decision to veto this. As I said, we have already passed this with a super majority in both chambers.

"Every statewide official, other than (U.S. Sen.) Sherrod Brown, has come out for a veto override. It’s made national news. The blowback from this is tremendous. The three leading presidential candidates have come out in favor of an override.

"From out here in little Fremont, we are making national news with this bill to protect children," he said. "The suicide rate from people who transition is 19 times higher than the general population, so by vetoing this bill, Governor DeWine put children at greater risk and puts women at greater risk.

"It puts women at greater risk , because it also regulates female sports to females, saying that men cannot compete at women’s sports, and that was part of what he vetoed," Click said.

Click expects action in January

“Polling shows 70% favorability for these issues, and it crosses party lines. Even Democrats lean into a position on this. Maybe not to the degree that Republicans do, but they still favor protecting women and children. The LGBT community largely favors this as well. Most of my witnesses were part of the community, including gays, lesbians and a transsexual, have testified in favor of my bill, saying that children are not competent to make these decisions," Click said. "These are life-altering; they are dangerous. It is about the use of drugs and surgery to alter a child’s appearance. And it’s dangerous and unethical, and it needs to be stopped, and it needs to be done now."

Click said he held hearings with multiple witnesses before the legislation was approved by the General Assembly.

“Multiple hearings with multiple witnesses, over two General Assemblies," he said. "We didn’t leave any stoned unturned. Everybody got to speak on every side. ...

"This has been thoroughly vetted."

He said the next meeting of the Ohio Senate is Jan. 24.

Click is hoping for a veto override.

“I’ve been having conversations with my colleagues, who are very, very worked up over this. They were calling for an override before I did, not that I didn’t want one, but before the dust settled that day — before the press conference was ever finished, they were already calling for an override," he said.

“The support appears to be there in both chambers," Click said. “We need 60 votes."

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Gary Click looking for override on HB 68 veto by DeWine