A state senator in Utah who sponsored legislation to ban transgender surgeries on minors said on Friday that his home was vandal...
A state senator in Utah who sponsored legislation to ban transgender surgeries on minors said on Friday that his home was vandalized.
State Sen. Mike Kennedy said that his home had been recently vandalized and posted a photo showing the words “FASH” and “These trannies bash back” spray-painted in red on a house.
“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,” Kennedy 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,” he continued. “We will not let fear and violence control our destiny.”
Kennedy wrote that Utahns “will always stand up and push back against radicals who seek to push their agenda in our state,” adding that he’s “more determined than ever to work with the good people of Utah to make our state a better place for all, especially our children.”
Closing the post, Kennedy said, “I won’t back down.”
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in January signed Senate Bill 16, sponsored by Kennedy, into law, banning transgender surgeries on kids and placing a hold on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children.
Kennedy’s Facebook post about the vandalism was met with more than a hundred comments, with most supportive of the state senator’s work to fight radical LGBT policies concerning minors.
“Keep standing tall Mike! Thank you for protecting kids!,” one comment read, with another saying, “Thank you for standing up to these thugs. You do everyone proud with your work.”
“Thank you for all your efforts!” another said. “They try to bully us into inaction and silence but it will not work. I believe that anyone who engages in this kind of behavior is deeply troubled. I hope whoever did this gets the help they need.”
LGBT activist group Equality Utah condemned acts of vandalism in a lengthy statement and chided conservative “extremists” who “verbally harass our community and attack our liberties with harmful legislation.”
“We don’t know the ideology of those who vandalized Sen. Kennedy’s house,” part of the statement read, according to FOX 13. “But we have repeatedly asked conservatives to call out extremists on their side, who verbally harass our community and attack our liberties with harmful legislation. In return, we now call out and condemn extremists who may identify with our side, who deploy tactics to intimidate and frighten political opponents,” the group said. “The culture wars are now escalating into real-world violence, and we all have an obligation to take a stand and condemn extremism wherever it manifests — be it acts of vandalism, or political acts of violence.”
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