Billy Cunningham, the Great America. Welcome this glorious Friday afternoon in the tri
State. Of course, Bengals kickoff tomorrow about one oh five vikings in town,
and there's a heartbeat when it comes to the Bengals maybe making into the
playoffs. Our coverage starts about nine o'clock tomorrow morning, plus later on about
one hour we have Brian Kilmead's going to be with us from Fox News.
But until then. On Wednesday, Ohio lawmakers voted to ban transgender girls from
female sports and to restrict the medical care of transgender miners. I guess the
headline is that doctors in the state of Ohio, assuming Mike DeWine signs the
bill, which is questionable at this point, would prescribe. It would keep
doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers, or gender reassignment surgery before that Ohio
kid turns eighteen years old, and a change on Wednesday also would allow Ohio
residents already receiving hormones or puberty blockers to continue. Joining you and I now
is the great Senator Steve Huffman of Miami County more or less, and Senator
welcome again to the Bill Cunningham show, And can you tell the American people
the three or four headlines of the bill that you voted for and that sits
on the governor's desk as we speak. Give me the three or four headlines.
I think you summed it up pretty well. But no puberty blockers,
no hormones, no surgeries under eighteen. But you also forgot a second component
of this that high school students, college athletes could not change if they're assigned
as a male, could not say that they're a female and then play in
those high school sports. And so does this also would this also apply to
like Ohio State or University of Toledo or Miami? Does it apply there too?
It says members of the NCAA, a A or the or A junior
college. Yes. Okay, let's talk about gender dysphoria in general, which
is a medical condition. Until recently, it was viewed as a psychiatric condition
that required some sort of intervention by a psychologists or a psychiatrist. But can
you explain what is gender dysphoria that someone who is biologically one sex mentally and
feels that they're of the other sex. Okay, and so this, yeah,
so, and sometimes that there are some that have. According to the
literature, about ninety nine point nine percent of us aren't in that category,
but about point one percent is in the category of someone who thinks like,
I look physically like a male, but I think I'm a female. And
in the past, how was that dealt with? Well, probably when when
you were growing up, it was totally ignored, you know, and that
it's at times it's been just cross dressing, and that it's you know,
coming to these hormones and surgeries recently, and as far as the uh,
the activist on one side claim that you're gonna one one argument I hear that
the issue we voted on, which was State Issue one, we were told
during the campaign that this had nothing to do with gender re assignment surgery or
sports. But now the arguments I hear on the other side is that this
might violate what we just passed relative to abortion, which is a reproductive issue,
because if one changes one's gender, it affects one's reproductive abilities. Is
it in the back of your mind somehow that State Issue one impacts the legislation
you voted for on Wednesday or not. In my opinion, it doesn't but
I think at some point the Supreme Court may have to be asked to answer
that question, but in my opinion, it doesn't. Senator, what do
you we had a children's hospital here in Cincinnati is a fine facility. It
was voted the best children's hospital in the country when you voted for this,
and it's on the governor's desk awaiting signature. That children's hospital issued a statement
saying that the laws interfering somehow with doctor patient relationships and also interfering with the
relationship of a mother or father who wants their child to go through this gender
reassignment surgery beginning with hormones. How did you process the idea that many of
the children's hospitals, including I would assume nationwide and Columbus opposes this, did
this way into your thinking at all? It did. I will say that
their association and every children's hospital in the state was against this, But I
think it came down to, you know, we have a duty to protect
the hollow highlights, and I think that's what it came down to, is
to protect them till they were able to make their own logical decision at an
appropriate age. And so I would assume that the activists have a different viewpoint.
In fact, I'm getting a text from one right now that deals with
the issue of was there any testimony that ten years from the switch as a
teenager, that there was buyer's remorse? And I've done this topic. This
topic didn't didn't exist till about two or three years ago. By the way,
I've been doing this for about forty years. And gender reassignment surgery was
perceived as mutilating a child, which was illegal, and hormonal therapy was brand
new. But can you tell the American people what percentage or ten years after
the switch, Let's say this person who's gone transgender is twenty five, thirty
years old, and how much buyer's remorse has there been in that regard.
I can't give you a percent or a number. But we did have a
number of people that came and testified, and you know that that expressed that
they wish this law was in place. They would have not have had surgery,
they would not have had the hormones, and they really did have buyer's
remorse. And this just delays. It doesn't say after you're eighteen, okay,
let's I want to do this and you can go down that path with
your own desires. But you know, right now, my understanding, nobody
in the state is doing the gender surgery. But you know this bill is
going to prevent that that if someone was going to move in that direction like
other states have, it's not gonna be able to do it. Do you
have a sense as we sent here this Friday afternoon, the Governor Mike Dwine's
gonna sign it or not? What is your crystal ball? Tell you?
I spoke to him a couple of days ago about this bill, and I
know he has a lot of reservations. The governor, as you know,
truly looks after the children in the state, and I think he's gonna do
what his conscience says, or he may just not do anything. And you
know, ten days after it's given to him, it just becomes law without
a signature, And I'm not really sure what he do at this point.
Senator Steve Hoffman, do you have the votes to overturn the governor's a veto
if he decides to veto this? Do you have the votes to overturn that?
Correct? The boat the House and Senate do. But there's also some
people will at times will flip their vote because they don't want to. They
don't want to do it. Override is that they don't feel that it rises
to that level. You know, we the House over rowed the smoking ban
earlier this week, and we'll see if the Senate takes that up. But
as the vote count goes, we had enough to override the veto are you
comfortable when you go to bed at night and that your head hits the pillow?
Are you comfortable you did the right thing? I think so, you
know, delaying this till a child can truly make their own decision, I
think is the right thing to protect them and and and so that they don't
have buyer's remorse. And so if I know there's lots of tom boys,
that the term was tom boyce years and years decades ago, that you're a
tomboy, that some girls want to do boy type things, and some boys
want to do girl type things. They're human type things, they're not gender
specific. And are you you've been around a while. I'm shocked that this
is an issue. I mean, if somebody had told me five years ago
that lawmakers would have to get together to make sure that teenage boys and girls
aren't given permanent changes to their genitelia based upon hormones and or surgery. I
would not have thought this is possible that somehow there'd be a large group of
people, generally with a multicolored hair, screaming, hollering and shouting about you
and those who don't understand health needs of a child. How do you separate
in your mind the idea that this has suddenly become an issue with Statistically,
it's about er point one percent of gender dysphoria, but according to some polling,
twenty five percent of high school boys and girls in Ohio are uncertain about
their own sex, their own gender, their own sexuality. The whole culture
is filled with sexual ideations every day in a regular basis. TikTok, etc.
Tells girls to be shameful of their own bodies, and it tells them
to have these stupid challenges. And we live in a society where I can't
believe this is even an issue to be discussed or approved by the legislature.
Say that a sixteen year old boy or girl cannot take a permanent type hormonal
therapy that'll change what they are, and that it's almost impossible to move back
five or ten years later from a childish decision. You probably, Senator,
did things when you were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years old that you look
back on and say, man, that was stupid. I know I've done
things in my life as a teenager. I'm saying, my god, that
was stupid, and I can't believe I did that. And so do you
see yourself as a lawmaker more or less overriding the opinion of a parent and
a children's hospital because some critics might say you know best, how would you
respond to that? You know, I've heard that criticism, and you know,
I don't know how we got to this point. I agree with you
that that I never foresaw this, you know, almost fifty eight years old.
I never foresaw something like this. Whatever happened, But you know,
growing up, they were you know, they were tomboys, and people dealt
with it. And I think it's a difficult situation for everybody, from the
parents to the children, to the doctors to the hospital. So, you
know, as the General Assembly, it feels we need to protect the children
to just say there's a pause to your appropriate appropriate age to make that decision.
And isn't it fair to say that the culture is telling teenage boys and
girls that to go through this hormonal therapy and then eventually surgery is normal and
natural. It is something that you should do so that the real person can
come out. And I'm listening to these arguments, i'mthing, well, if
the real person is going to come out, can you wait till you're eighteen,
nineteen or twenty to make that decision? And the activists say no,
that if a mother or father in a hospital say, okay, this child
is fourteen years old, they suffer from a hormonal dysfunction of one type genderness
for you, and we're going to begin to process of hormonally changing their their
DNA in a sense which cannot be done, and that we're gonna make it
a big political issue and beat Senator Steve Huffman over the head with it.
You would have thought, what world do I live in? Here? Again?
I agree with you. I ever thought we would get to this spot,
and uh, you know, we just have to keep moving on.
And uh, you know, I think, uh a lot of these negative
social things. You know, people keep looking at the General Assembly and emphasizing
on but I think we need to also look at the good things we do,
look at the three point one billion dollar tax cut. We put in
all the money we're giving to public education at choice. The General Assembly does
does a lot of good things, and uh, sometimes the media just likes
to talk about the more controversial stone. You know, the media is not
on your side when it comes to hormonal therapy and generous for you, and
you understand they think you're small town lawmakers. I don't know what the hell's
going on, but I'd put up with the media and their criticism. Secondly,
and lastly, about a minute remaining, there's a headline in the Inquiry
this morning, Ohio lawmakers, that means you deadlocked on changes to recreational marijuana.
The Senate passed it. I had the Governor on Tuesday or Wednesday and
he said one percent. I'm on board with the Senate and the House is
doing nothing. Is the headline accurate? Are you deadlocked on changes to recreational
marijuana? Well, the speaker who spoke and he was going to get home
and we weren't going to do anything, but hopefully come January we'll be able
to get something. It's look, the Senate is not looking to get rid
of recreational The people have spoken to that. We're trying to do some things
around the edge of public smoking. I don't want to sit at a ball
game of some guy smoking a joint next to my tan. You know,
open containers and cars, different life, see things. Twelve plants, twelve
plants. We're trying a lot of things. We're trying to do is to
discourage the black market and have a productive and safe for the citizens of Ohio.
Because right now, as we sit here this Friday afternoon, the state
issue too past, which means that I can walk around downtown Cincinnati, wherever
you can smoke a cigarette, you can smoke a joint right now, and
right now, I can grow marijuana in my home right now, and you
can grow it, you can possess it now. You can't buy it now.
You can't buy it for nine months, and that's just driving people to
the to the black market. And we were trying to make it effective immediately,
and you should go to the medical dispensaries where we know there's good quality
products. You would be able to buy it now. So we're going to
keep working on this. I spoke to the government again earlier this week,
and I know the Senate and the Governor's cater to get this dat as soon
as we can. Can you put up with all the criticisms from the transgender
crowd with three kinds of colored hair? Can you put up with that?
I can't. It was an interesting day the other day because on one side
of the Senate was hearings off the transgender and on all the other side was
Marijuana Committee discussing that. So there's an eclected group. In a few years
back. Could you have imagined Ohio overwhelmingly legalizing marijuana recreationally and uh a bill
in front of you which would permit and allow transgender rights and boys to play
girls sports. Would you have thought, what world am I living in?
I would agree, you know, I would look around and think I was
in California? But where the hell am I? Never thought this is impossible?
All right, we're Senator, good luck in the future. We'll see
what happens. We're going to try to find out today Monday if the Governor's
going to sign it. In the past he has opposed it, but it
appears that there's enough votes to override the governor's veto either way. But once
again, Senator Steve Huffman, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and keep
doing what you're doing. Senator, thank you very much. You take care
of Bill. Merry Christmas all too, God bless America. Thank you very
much. Senator. Right, let's continue with more. And no one here
or anywhere wants anything bad to happen to any kid who believes that their heart
and soul is in a different body than their mind can conjure. And that
is that. I want nothing bad to happen to some kid who think born
female, that's suddenly their male, or vice versa. It's a it's a
perplexing issue. In the past, it was a psychiatric disorder. Now it's
become like a human right. So we'll see what happens down the road.
Your reaction five one, three, seven, four, nine, seven thousand,
Bill Cunningham, Bengals, kicking off tomorrow about one five right here on
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