18 of 20 charged with trespassing after protests from SB 150 plead not guilty

April 19, 2023

Hannah Woosley-Collins,

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) — Eighteen of the 20 people charged with trespassing in the State Capitol’s House Chambers for protesting Senate Bill 150 have pleaded not guilty.

Oliver Hall, an activist who was present during the protests on March 29 but was not arrested or charged, told ABC 36 that 18 of the 20 protestors who were forcibly removed from the House Chambers and charged with third-degree trespassing have pleaded not guilty. The other two haven’t had their day in court yet.

Hall says he feels disheartened that legislators are “using their power to hurt trans youth rather than addressing the issues actually affecting working Kentuckians.”

SB 150 easily passed both the Kentucky Senate and House, by votes of 29-6 and 30-7, respectively.

Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the bill on March 24, and, five days later, both chambers overrode his veto.

In a statement, Beshear said the bill takes away parents’ ability to make medical decisions for their children and turns educators into investigators at school.

“A lot of trans people feel scared of what is to come based on the level of violence we’re seeing nationally and locally alongside calls to eradicate trans people,” Hall continued.

The final two protestors will appear in court on May 1.

SB 150 requires parental notification on “sexually-related matters” in schools, bans gender-affirming medical care for minors and doesn’t require educators to use pronouns that don’t match the student’s gender on their birth certificate, among other things.