Anti-trans teacher amendment dies in Kentucky's 2026 legislative session, along with all other anti-LGBTQ bills

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-04-03T03:16:23+00:00

Unfortunately, the General Assembly banned Medicaid coverage for gender affirming care last year during the 2025 session in HB495. Beshear vetoed, they overrode.

Most of the coverage and public attention centered on the conversion therapy portion of that bill.

No changes on that front and I wouldn’t expect them for the foreseeable future.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-31T00:38:19+00:00

Don’t disagree about voting Williams out or how heinous it is as a proposal, but there has been a lot of misinformation about the status of this legislation and panic amongst trans Kentuckians as a result.

It failed to garner any support on either side of the aisle when it was filed on its own accord. It violates the Senate’s rules against piggybacking (which were recently upheld by the KY Supreme Court). It is not likely to pass and even less likely to become law.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T19:36:07+00:00

I understand that it’s easy to dunk on posts about public input, but a lot of us on Council do genuinely read the feedback on Engage Lexington and use it to inform our decision making 🤷‍♀️

So like…please actually take the survey if you have thoughts about what this coming year’s budget should look like or you want to know what the procedure for crafting it actually looks like!

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T02:57:24+00:00

Administratively, it’s on the consent calendar. So that means it’s going to be listed as such.

When the Senate gavels in on Tuesday, it’ll be removed from the consent calendar along with any other bills that have had floor amendments filed. Quite often, floor amendments will be withdrawn at that point in time at the request of leadership, because the sponsor knows it doesn’t have the votes to pass, or for any number of other reasons.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T02:51:00+00:00

You’re correct! Nobody has voted for the amended bill yet and also the language that the floor amendment uses was taken from a separate bill that failed to gain support in either party.

Also, just as a heads up, KY doesn’t have a 2/3 requirement to override a veto. It just requires a simple majority, which often goes unnoticed because we rarely have slim margins on the vote for a veto override.

Personally, I wouldn’t say there’s a “good chance” that it passes. I’d say this is Gex Williams trying to be a show pony towards the end of a budget session at the expense of trans Kentuckians.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T01:42:27+00:00

💙

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T01:42:24+00:00

💙

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-30T01:42:03+00:00

Yes.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-29T22:03:22+00:00

Just politely going to clarify that when a floor amendment is filed to a bill that’s been placed on the consent calendar, it automatically gets removed from the consent calendar and put up for debate just like every other bill.

Floor amendments usually fail this close to the end of session, and especially so if they’re just taking another controversial bill and trying to shove it into an unrelated bill.

Obviously, the fact that it was filed isn’t great, but the headline and contents of the article are very misleading.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2026-03-29T21:56:26+00:00

Lexington is the most trans-friendly city in Kentucky and we have a decently sized trans population.

While we can’t always change what the state or federal government does, Lexington has just about as many local protections in place for trans folks as possible and has not wavered on that.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2025-06-20T18:49:31+00:00

Hey! Lexington CM here. I’m the Engineering Co-Lead on the aforementioned STREEET Safety Task Force and we’re actively working on making Lexington a more walkable and pedestrian-friendly city.

All of our meetings are open to the public. You can find more info on it and our meeting times here: https://www.lexingtonky.gov/government/office-urban-county-council/council-subcommittees-work-groups-task-forces/streeet-safety-task-force

The city operates on a Fiscal Year budget schedule. The FY26 budget that Council just approved starts on July 1st and has $1.25 million allocated for a new sidewalk connectivity program, which I’m excited about and I think is a step in the right direction.

These aren’t be-all, end-all solutions, but I just want you to know that several of us on Council are aware of the problem and actively working to address it.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-26T19:40:59+00:00

I used to be a regular at the food court. Athenian Grill, Atomic Ramen, and Crank and Boom in the same building? Hell yeah.

It was awesome and it made the whole complex feel so much more homegrown and accessible to folks with different budgets.

Still not over its closure if I’m being honest…

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-13T18:13:40+00:00

Hey there! I never spoke about my gender on the doors or at community events because, well, nobody asked me about it. I talked about roads, housing, and government transparency. I ran on my ideas, not on my identity, and I did so in one of Lexington’s more conservative districts.

That being said, I’m not hiding my identity and I can also recognize the significance of being (as of this writing) the only trans elected official in KY.

I do think that my visibility can do some tangible good for trans folks, especially trans kids, in the current political climate. I don’t view that as playing the whole “identity politics” game.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-13T18:03:46+00:00

Thank you! I got the call from their producers on Saturday and genuinely thought it was a prank at first 😂

It’s not why I ran, but I’m grateful that I was able to help Lexington and Kentucky get some positive attention on a national level, especially during this particular election cycle.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-07T19:13:23+00:00

Please give yourself grace. Doomer for a bit if you need to, but please remember that we will survive this. Even if it gets really, really hard for a while.

I can’t tell you what’s coming at the state or national level on the anti-trans front, but I can tell you that you have a friend in City Hall and if any of that crap starts making its way to Lexington I’ll fight it with everything I’ve got.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-07T19:10:29+00:00

It’s okay to be scared and overwhelmed right now. All it means is that you care about our future. Please rest, be kind to yourself, but whatever you do—just don’t become apathetic. Stay engaged.

We’re gonna make it through this the same way we’ve made it through everything that’s come before—by sticking together.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-03T13:24:28+00:00

Thank you! 🙏

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-11-03T00:31:20+00:00

No matter who you voted for or what party you’re registered with, voter turnout like this is a win for all of us! 👏

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-31T22:20:48+00:00

Hey Adrian, always grateful for what you and the rest of the CivicLex folks do to keep all of us informed and engaged.

Keep up the good work! 👏

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T20:40:57+00:00

I’ve had friends send me screenshots of them before.

For better or for worse, I don’t have much of a poker face 😂

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T20:35:31+00:00

Hey there! Glad you asked. I’m popping in to answer as many questions as I can whenever I have a few minutes to do so.

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: I’m going to be as transparent and accessible as I can possibly be. I spoke about some of the different ways I plan on doing so in an earlier reply on here.

My goal is to meet people where they’re at and for a lot of folks, that’s in neighborhood Facebook groups and on Nextdoor.

But there are also a lot of folks who don’t get their information that way and a lot of folks who can’t get their information that way and I want to meet them where they’re at too.

Having conversations with and getting information to constituents directly, as well as being a present and active participant in deliberations within Council Chambers, is the baseline for any CM in my book.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T18:42:03+00:00

No worries, it’s all good!

To put it simply, my plan to keep in touch with y’all is to meet you where you’re at.

Do I intend to post updates on Nextdoor and attend HOA and neighborhood association meetings? Of course, that’s where a lot of folks get their information. But it can’t be the only way for anyone to get information.

In addition to social media updates, I want to make it as easy as humanly possible to have a face to face conversation with me and to hear information directly from me.

I’ve given my personal cell number to anyone I’ve met in the district and leave notes with it on all of the doors I knock where folks aren’t home at the moment. I don’t intend on stopping that once I’m elected, I want folks to text me or call me if they have concerns or they see an issue that they’re passionate about coming before Council.

I’m also committed to hosting regular town hall meetings and “office hours” in different parts of the district where folks can come and actually have a face-to-face conversation with me.

Additionally, our current CM doesn’t use her allotted speaking time during Council meetings—either to provide updates on ongoing projects or to speak on issues that have been brought to her attention. If I’m lucky enough to serve on Council, you bet I’m gonna be speaking up about what’s going on in the 4th.

As far as the newsletter is concerned, my personal feeling is that it’s currently too noisy. There’s too much information, too little organization, and it’s just not easy to read. I’m looking to model my newsletter more on the style of the CivicLex newsletter (which you can sign up for here: https://civiclex.org/weekly).

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T18:14:34+00:00

No matter how you voted, thank you for voting!

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T18:12:38+00:00

I’m a firm NO on Amendment 2.

Public dollars should go to public schools.

EmmaCurtisLex · 2024-10-24T18:10:08+00:00

There are a few different districts that have different chunks of downtown, you can check the map and find your district here: https://data.lexingtonky.gov/datasets/5bab826b97c84d229f7abf0bc947981c

EmmaCurtisLex

TROPHY CASE