BREAKING A 10-year-old trans girl sat down in front of a room of Texas senators and told them she does not like spending her free time asking adults to make good choices. She was there because of a bill that would put her mom in prison for taking her to the doctor.
Kai Shappley, a fourth grader who loves math, science, ballet, her cats and Dolly Parton, testified before the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs on Monday, April 12, against Senate Bills 1311 and 1646. SB 1311 would bar doctors from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under 18. SB 1646 would redefine a parent consenting to puberty blockers or hormones for their own child as child abuse, a felony carrying up to ten years in prison, with the child placed in foster care.
She told the senators she has been explaining herself since she was three or four years old. "It makes me sad that some politicians use trans kids like me to get votes from people who hate me just because I exist."
Republican state Sen. Charles Perry, the bill's lead sponsor, said his religious beliefs motivated his support. Kai answered him directly: "God made me. God loves me for who I am, and God does not make mistakes."
Then she defended her mother, Kimberly Shappley, a registered nurse. "My mom has been giving everything she has to stand up for me." She asked the committee to stop, said it was never too late to turn it around, and told the lawmakers who defend kids like her that by the time she reaches college they will be celebrated in the history books.
She was the first trans child to testify. When she finished, no member of the committee asked her a single question. "Seriously, none of you want to know more about me?" she asked before leaving the stand.
Within days, her mother pulled her off social media entirely. One comment left on the 10-year-old's YouTube channel read, "dumb idiot get murdered you disgusting little brat." Amber Briggle, a Denton mom who testified at the same hearing about her trans son, filed a police report over threatening voice messages.
Both bills ultimately failed.
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