Tuesday, an Oklahoma state legislator who identifies as “non-binary” was censured for hiding a subject of a police search in her office.
Fox News reports that the House passed a bill prohibiting certain transgender-related operations for kids last week.
“We are going to protect children under the age of 18 from undergoing these very dangerous, and in many times irreversible treatments that we know from reading and research can cause serious side effects and physical problems later in life,” state Sen. Julie Daniels said, according to KOKH-TV.
According to KOCO-TV, a protester who opposed the measure poured water on a politician and struck a state trooper after the vote in the House.
Mauree Turner, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, refused to let police officials enter her office, where she was hiding the suspect.
“When we go up to the representative’s office, we were not allowed in, even from opening the door,” Trooper Eric Foster said, according to the Associated Press.
Foster stated that troopers were able to communicate with the subject, who subsequently emerged and was charged with assault and violence against a police officer.
In a press statement, House Speaker Charles McCall explained the reprimand.
“I want to make something very clear: I will not allow members of the House of Representatives to use their House-assigned offices and official positions to impede law enforcement from carrying out investigations or making arrests in the state Capitol,” he said, KOCO-TV reported.
“Our law enforcement officers leave their homes every day to serve and protect us, never knowing if it might be the last time they see their families. The House stands by our law enforcement and will not allow what is an already dangerous and unpredictable job to become more dangerous due to the actions of a member of our body.
“The inappropriate, and potentially criminal, actions exhibited by this member of the House were deserving of censure, and the actions taken by the House today were both measured and just,” he concluded.
According to AP, the vote of censure removed Turner from all committees to which she had been appointed unless she delivers a written apology, including to the Highway Patrol.
HAPPENING NOW: Rep. Cyndi Munson refers to what just happened on the House floor as “embarrassing.” House Dems are challenging the narrative put forth today by House GOP, saying it’s not based in fact. #okleg pic.twitter.com/8yGklnMg9k
— Tyler Talley (@tylertalley22) March 7, 2023
According to Turner, this is not in the plan.
“I think an apology for loving the people of Oklahoma is something that I cannot do. It’s something that I actively refuse to do,” she said.
When I walk into the chamber and there's a gaggle of troopers talking about me, I think about how Republicans have use every resource in their *power to make this place unsafe to Trans Oklahomans.
To Us. To Me.— Mauree Turner | They / Them (@MaureeTurnerOK) March 7, 2023
“I just provide my office as a space of grace and love for all the folks in all communities that seek refuge from the hate in this building,” Turner said. “Trans people don’t feel safe here.”