(LEX 18) — Daniel Cameron, the Republican running for governor, held a press conference on Thursday accusing Gov. Andy Beshear of allegedly misleading Kentuckians about gender reassignment surgeries for kids.
Cameron pointed to new information from a months-old letter that shows a University of Kentucky health clinic said it had performed " a small number of non-genital gender reassignment surgeries on minors, such as mastectomies for older adolescents."
The letter also states the clinic didn't perform "genital gender reassignment surgery on minors."
The letter was written on March 2nd by UK HealthCare's Chief Physician Executive. It is addressed to Kentucky Representative James Tipton.
Cameron used this information to attack Beshear.
"Either he didn't know that these surgeries were happening. Or he did, and he just lied about it," Cameron said. "I'm not sure which is worse."
"The letter shows that these surgeries did, in fact, occur and were occurring when Andy Beshear vetoed Senate Bill 150," added Cameron.
When asked about the letter, Beshear said it was new to him.
"Every piece of information that had been provided to the Governor's Office from the Fairness Campaign and others - from major medical providing groups - was that they did not happen in Kentucky," Beshear said.
Cameron used Thursday's press event to also accuse Beshear of supporting gender reassignment surgeries for kids. But the governor has repeatedly stated he does not.
"I have been crystal clear," said Beshear. "I do not support gender reassignment surgeries for minors. Period."
The Kentucky General Assembly passed Senate Bill 150 - a wide-ranging gender-affirming healthcare ban for trans kids - this year. The ban ranges from hormone treatments to surgeries. The bill also prohibits discussions about gender identity or sexual orientation in schools, bans trans kids from using the bathroom of their gender identities, allows teachers to refuse to use a student's preferred pronouns, and requires schools to notify parents if they refer a student to health or mental health services.
Beshear vetoed the measure, and Cameron has been attacking him for that.
"In recent weeks, Andy Beshear has looked directly into a camera and lied about his record on gender reassignment surgeries for minors," said Cameron.
Beshear said he vetoed the measure because it interferes with a parent's right to make medical choices for their child. He said he would've supported a bill that only banned gender reassignment surgeries for kids.
"I would have signed a bill that solely prohibited gender-reassignment surgeries for minors had it reached my desk," said Beshear.
Cameron has focused a significant part of his campaign on the issue of gender reassignment surgeries for kids. He argues it's important to keep Kentucky's kids safe.
Beshear argued Cameron had taken the governor's race to a new low.
"How [has] this race gone here? Daniel Cameron has taken this race to the gutter in a way that I have never seen," said Beshear. "I mean, right now, I think if you ask him about climate change, he'd say it's caused by children and gender reassignment surgeries."
