COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The first day of the trial for the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act wrapped up in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on Monday.
The SAFE Act aims to ban minors from receiving gender-affirming care, like hormone blockers, in Ohio. It also prohibits a mental health professional from diagnosing a minor for a gender-related condition without screening the minor for other issues like abuse.
The law was supposed to go into effect back in April but was put on hold by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook, who is overseeing this trial.
Monday morning started with brief opening statements from both the plaintiffs, who are asking the law to be thrown out, and the defense, via the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which is asking the law be upheld.
The first witness on the stand was “Gina Goe,” mother of “Grace Goe,” who is one of the minors in the case. All the minors, and relatives of the minors, are listed as pseudonyms on the case and no photos or videos of them will be shown, at the judge’s order, for safety purposes.
“A definite turning point is when [Grace] came to me and asked me if she died, if God would make her a girl,” Goe said.
Goe said that conversation happened in kindergarten and it was between that year and first grade when they started using different pronouns and a gender-neutral name.
“I was afraid of how people would receive her, I was concerned about just how that would affect our relationships with people in our lives like family and neighbors and the schools and our church,” Goe said.
But Goe said that at the end of the day, it was worth it to see the difference it made in Grace’s life.
“Her distress ceased and melted away almost instantaneously,” Goe said.
Goe said the enactment of the SAFE Act would be detrimental to both Grace and her family, and it could mean moving to get what they consider necessary treatment.
“We don’t want to move, none of us want to move, we love where we are in the community, we’re in but we’ve talked about that being a possibility,” Goe said.
Supporters of the SAFE Act said the bill will protect children from making “life-changing decisions” before they are old enough to make those choices.
The plaintiffs also called two other witnesses to the stand on Monday, including a psychologist who deals with children experiencing gender dysmorphia.
The defense will have a chance to call witnesses later this week.
