Utah Republican state senator Mike Kennedy's home was reportedly vandalized with spray paint after he sponsored a bill to halt sex change operations and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The incident has prompted LGBTQ rights groups to call for left-wing extremists to stand down.
Senator Kennedy was part of the controversial Senate Bill 16, which prohibited youth from seeking 'gender-affirming care' effective January. An estimated 2,100 Utah teens between ages 13 and 17 identify as trans, giving Utah the ninth-lowest rate of trans-teens among American states. Nationally, an estimated 2.83 percent of teens identify as trans, with figures nearly doubling from 2017 to 2020.
States such as Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Texas have implemented similar bans on gender-affirming care for minors alongside Utah.
Kennedy announced the vandalism in a Facebook post urging residents in his state: "Stand up and push back against radicals who seek to push their agenda in our state."
The prominent LGBTQ activist group Equality Utah opposed SB16 but denounced the vandalism committed at Kennedy's residence through a strongly-worded statement shared publicly across social platforms.
"Vandalism is not activism," said Troy Williams, Executive Director of Equality Utah during an interview with local media outlets. He went on to say that acts like these do more harm than good when it comes to fighting against discriminatory legislation such as SB16.
Not all LGBTQ advocates share this sentiment though; some have used harsh language towards lawmakers opposing transgender surgeries while others continue pushing for awareness and support within their communities despite facing backlash for their stance on bills like SB16.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021 and directed the award-winning feature film EXEMPLUM which explores themes related to personal identity struggles faced by those within various marginalized communities including transgender individuals living under oppressive legislation.