Louisiana State Sen. Fred Mills (R-Acadiana), a former Democrat and a pharmacy owner backed by the pharmaceutical industry, joined with Democrats of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee to kill a bill, already passed by the state House, that would have protected minors from life-altering gender transition procedures.
HB648, a bill that would “prohibit certain procedures to alter the sex of a minor child,” including providing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries such as elective double mastectomies and castrations, was killed in committee, by a vote of 5-4, with Mills, the GOP chair of the committee, breaking the tie to side with the Democrats.
“After passing the House, a bill in Louisiana that would have banned pediatric sex changes just failed in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee because ‘Republican’ State Senator Fred Mills voted with Democrats to kill it,” the State Freedom Caucus Network’s Greg Price shared on Twitter Wednesday. “One look at his donors shows massive contributions from Big Pharma, which gets rich off giving these drugs to children.”
Price also shared the discovery that Mills “used to dress in drag for commercials for his pharmacy,” and noted as well that Mills is term-limited and not eligible to run for a fourth term in the state Senate.
In other news, I have discovered that Louisiana Republican Senator Fred Mills who just singlehandedly killed a bill to ban transing children also used to dress in drag for commercials for his pharmacy. pic.twitter.com/E47Ezcc4PP
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 24, 2023
For everyone asking this question, the answer is that he is term limited so the good news is that he will not be in office after the next election.
The #laleg limits senators to three terms.https://t.co/n2MyWEowXM
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 24, 2023
The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) celebrated the vote as “a POWERFUL WIN for transgender kids and their families!”
BREAKING: Senators have chosen to protect Louisiana’s transgender children and rejected HB648! This harmful bill will NOT advance to the Senate floor. This is a POWERFUL WIN for transgender kids and their families! #lalege
— ACLU of Louisiana (@ACLUofLouisiana) May 24, 2023
Conservative author and commentator Matt Walsh tweeted his reaction to the news of Mills’ vote.
“Fred Mills has sided with the butchers and groomers,” Walsh shared. “He will regret it. This is the biggest mistake of his political career, and also the end of his career. He’s going to be infamous and disgraced by his own base. We’ll make sure of that.”
Fred Mills has sided with the butchers and groomers. He will regret it. This is the biggest mistake of his political career, and also the end of his career. He’s going to be infamous and disgraced by his own base. We’ll make sure of that. https://t.co/ZiJFM9gScs
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 24, 2023
In his reaction to Mills’ bill-killing vote, conservative host and author Jesse Kelly warned, “Whoever mans the phones in the Fred Mills office is gonna have a LONG night when The Jesse Kelly Show hits the air.”
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1661460175071453184
The Louisiana Illuminator reported Thursday Mills was unconcerned about the criticism he received for his vote from national activists who oppose harmful gender transition treatments for children.
“Why should I?,” he responded during an interview Wednesday. “They don’t live in District 22. They don’t have a 337 area code.”
“I didn’t run for office to serve those people,” he reportedly said.
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Fred Mills” by Louisiana State Senate. Photo “Louisiana State Capitol” by Stuart Seeger. CC BY 2.0.
