(LifeSiteNews) — A Utah state senator’s home was vandalized over the weekend after he sponsored a bill designed to ban child mutilation in the name of “gender transitions.”
Republican Sen. Michael Kennedy’s legislation was signed into law in January, effectively barring gender-confused minors from accessing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures. On Friday, Kennedy posted a photo of his garage and driveway, both damaged with a red spray-painted message from the vandals.
“To those who seek to use violence, vandalism, and intimidation to deter me from standing up for what is right, let me be clear: you will not succeed,” the senator wrote on Facebook. “I will not be deterred by your cowardly actions. The recent vandalism to my family’s home was not just an attack on me, but on the very principles our state stands for.”
“We will not let fear and violence control our destiny,” he continued. “As Utahns, we will always stand up and push back against radicals who seek to push their agenda in our state. I am more determined than ever to work with the good people of Utah to make our state a better place for all, especially our children, and I won’t back down.”
On Sunday, Kennedy posted similar sentiments on Twitter in reference to a New York Post article about the vandalism.
“I won’t be intimidated,” the post reads. “This year I sponsored/passed laws to protect parental rights in education, ban vaccine passports, and stop dangerous & irreversible transgender surgeries on kids. My focus is our children’s future and creating a safer and more affordable Utah for all.”
I won't be intimidated. This year I sponsored/passed laws to protect parental rights in education, ban vaccine passports, and stop dangerous & irreversible transgender surgeries on kids. My focus is our children’s future and creating a safer and more affordable Utah for all. https://t.co/c6dOk3FJfu
— Dr. Mike Kennedy (@KennedyForUtah) April 24, 2023
LifeSiteNews has contacted the Lone Peak Police Department for further details and updates on the incident but did not immediately receive a response.
SB 16, also known as the “Transgender [sic] Medical Treatments and Procedures Amendments,” was sponsored by Kennedy during the 2023 legislative session and signed by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox in January, despite the governor’s history of openly supporting the LGBT agenda.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, the legislation “prohibits a health care provider from providing a hormonal transgender treatment [sic] to new patients who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria before a certain date” and “prohibits performing sex characteristic surgical procedures on a minor for the purpose of effectuating a sex change [sic].”
The law allows for victims of such “treatments” to take legal action against the professionals involved and requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a more complete “review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal” intervention to provide further “recommendations to the Legislature.”
Kennedy said at the time that the use of medical interventions for gender confusion “lack[s] sufficient long-term research.” The family physician and father of eight also stated that the United States “is witnessing a radical and dangerous push for children to enter this version of health care.”
Arkansas, Indiana, West Virginia, Mississippi, Idaho, and Tennessee are among a number of states which have enacted partial or total bans this year on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for gender-confused children.
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