LEXINGTON, Ky. — When Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear ran for reelection in 2023, a reoccurring Republican line of attack was that he’d allow minors to undergo gender-affirming surgeries.

Now, as the governor builds his national name ID ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run, Republicans in Kentucky and beyond are re-upping that line of attack: Andy Beshear supports the “mutilation” of children.

The Republican National Committee said Beshear defends “child gender mutilations.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz asked Beshear why he was “sterilizing & mutilating children of God?” The prominent right-wing social media account Libs of TikTok called Beshear’s use of faith “to support the chemical and surgical mutilation of children ... disgusting.”

Recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a similar dig at Beshear when he visited Kentucky to support a House resolution calling for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. When asked his thoughts about Beshear’s jab at him in an interview on The Daily Show with host Jon Stewart, DeSantis echoed the online claims.

“All I can say is, a guy that sends state police to try to block people from worshiping on Easter Sunday, a guy that’s obsessed with gender mutilation of minors, if that’s the person that’s criticizing me, I wear that as a badge of honor,” DeSantis said.

That talking point stems from 2023’s Senate Bill 150, which, among other things, banned gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries. Beshear vetoed the controversial bill, but the GOP supermajority in the legislature overrode it.

Beshear’s campaign spokesperson at the time said the Kentucky Democrat has “always opposed gender-reassignment surgeries for minors.”

Almost three years later, Beshear’s stance remains the same, his team says.

Scottie Ellis, a spokesperson for Beshear’s office, told the Herald-Leader in February he believes personal health care decisions should be made between an individual and their family.

“Gov. Beshear believes that includes gender-affirming care, which can improve health outcomes for the transgender community,” Ellis said in a statement. “He has also been clear that he does not support reassignment surgery for minors — and that these procedures don’t happen in Kentucky.“

The ban on surgical procedures wasn’t a controversial part of the bill, as advocates and medical providers argued they did not favor surgeries. A subsequent — and ultimately unsuccessful — lawsuit challenging the statute only sought to overturn the provisions on puberty blockers and hormones, leaving the surgical ban untouched.

The bill also had restrictions on instruction related to gender and sexuality in schools.

What has Andy Beshear said on trans issues?

In Beshear’s veto message from 2023, he framed SB 150 as government overreach while also calling gender-affirming care “an important means of improving health outcomes for the transgender population.”

According to a study published in 2022 in the Jama Network Open, an organization focusing on improving health equity, transgender and nonbinary youth who had access to gender-affirming care had lower rates of reporting depression and suicidality. Those ages 13 to 20 who had access to hormones and puberty blockers were associated with a 60% lower odds of depression and a 73% lower odds of self-harm or suicidal thoughts over a 12-month period.

“Senate Bill 150 allows too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children,” Beshear wrote in 2023.

While surgeries are also gender-affirming care, Beshear has consistently made it clear he doesn’t include them in the category of what’s acceptable for minors, including when he was on the receiving end of attacks from the Republican Party of Kentucky, GOP candidate Daniel Cameron and his supporters.

Multiple commercials hit the air waves targeting Beshear’s record, with one from State Solutions, a group linked to the Republican Governor’s Association, stating Beshear“ would allow sex changes for children as young as 8 to 9 years.” Meanwhile, Cameron said on social media Beshear “believe(s) kids should have access to sex change surgery and drugs.”

Beshear commented at the time that he’s “never been for gender reassignment surgeries, and they don’t happen in Kentucky,”

“What I’m absolutely opposed to is tearing away the rights of parents to make critical and important medical decisions for their kids,” Beshear said at a campaign stop in Lexington.

Now, as Beshear travels the country and appears in national media, he cites his faith as a reason why he vetoed the bill.

In his Feb. 9 interview on The View, Beshear told the hosts most of the decisions he makes are based on the parable of the good Samaritan that says “everyone is our neighbor,” and we should “love our neighbor as ourself.”

“And so, when I’ve taken actions like vetoing the nastiest piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation that ever came through my state, I described it in those terms. I said, ‘My faith teaches me that all children are children of God,’ and I didn’t want people picking on those kids,” he said.

In an interview with MS Now, Beshear said Saturday he has vetoed “every anti-LGBTQ bill in Kentucky...because it was the right thing to do.”

Throughout Beshear’s term, he has vetoed other bills critics say would harm the LGBTQ community.

Last year, Beshear vetoed a House bill that would have protected conversion therapy practices and banned Medicaid funds to pay for gender-affirming health care for transgender adults. (Beshear, however, did not veto Senate Bill 2, which prohibited gender-affirming treatment for prisoners, instead letting the legislation become law without his signature.)

In 2022, Beshear vetoed a Senate bill that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ or women’s sports.

The Republican supermajority overrode each veto.

Leading up to the 2023 gubernatorial election, conservatives recirculated a photo Beshear took with a group of drag queens during a 2020 rally in the Kentucky Capitol. In the photo, Beshear posed with Kentucky chapter members of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which is a satirical group that uses drag and religion to comment on sex and gender.

While Cameron criticized Beshear and called the group “an anti-Christian hate group that makes fun of people of faith,” Beshear’s campaign spokesperson emphasized the governor believes the best way to live faithfully “is to show love to all, hate and anger to none.”

Kentucky Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman praised Beshear’s record at this year’s annual Fairness Rally and said Democrats nationwide will find his approach “to be a breath of fresh air.”

“He’s somebody who is coming and speaking with candor about what drives his values, how they are rooted in faith, and how faith and fairness can coexist together. The synergy there is what’s going to give folks the energy and the motivation to move forward. I think that Gov. Beshear has a really positive path forward for the entire nation,” Hartman said.

Republican backlash

Republicans have been critical of Beshear pointing to religion to justify his political record.

State Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, criticized Beshear in a social media post for his using faith to defend the 2023 veto, calling Beshear’s thought process “demented.”

Adam Hope, Republican Party of Kentucky communications director, said in a statement Beshear “will say and do whatever it takes to advance his political career.”

“But his record is crystal clear. He vetoed every piece of legislation passed by our Republican supermajorities to protect children from irreversible gender procedures,” Hope said. “Then, he had the nerve to say he’ll do what he thinks is ‘right’ regardless of how it polls in Kentucky.

“The right thing would be standing with Kentuckians and protecting our kids. Instead, he chose liberal activists over families and stood directly in the way.”

Ellis reiterated in her statement that Beshear stands by his decision to veto “the nastiest piece of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that Kentucky had ever seen.”

“His faith teaches him that all children are children of God, and that was the right thing to do,” Ellis said.

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