Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider opposes Ohio bill to ban treatments for transgender youth
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Ohio native and Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider opposes a bill before Ohio lawmakers that would curtail access to hormone therapy and other medical procedures for transgender minors, and she plans to be at the bill's next hearing on Wednesday.
“It’s so important that LGBTQ+ Ohioans and those who love them fight to protect the children whose health and safety would be endangered by this misguided legislation,” Schneider said in a statement released by Equality Ohio.
House Bill 454, which is nicknamed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation or SAFE Act by supporters, would outlaw the use of puberty blockers, hormones and gender reassignment surgery for children under the age of 18. If it becomes law, doctors found in violation could face professional discipline and civil lawsuits.
House Bill 454:Ohio Republicans want to ban treatments for transgender youth but what would that mean?
Supporters say the changes are necessary to prevent both children and parents from being "bullied" into potentially irreversible treatments. But opponents say most of what Republicans are peddling about transgender care is misinformation at best and bigotry at worst.
“We don’t need our private decisions controlled by politicians," said Kathryn Poe, public policy and digital communications manager for Equality Ohio.
Schneider, who is transgender herself, made national headlines in 2021 when her Jeopardy! winning streak made her the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for a spot in the current tournament of top winners. The finals are airing this week.
As her winnings grew, the Dayton native began opening up about her background and what she calls the importance of seeing positive representations of transgender people on television.
“Growing up in the Midwest in a conservative family, I had gotten kind of a distorted idea of what it meant to be trans," Schneider told USA Today in December 2021.
The hearing on HB 454 is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 122 at the Ohio Statehouse.
Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider to testify against Ohio anti-trans bill
