Activists hold Tax Day protest at Kentucky Capitol

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - Activists gathered at the Kentucky Capitol Tuesday to advocate for a variety of topics, including trans rights, following the passage of Senate Bill 150.

The 2023 legislative session wrapped up weeks ago at the Capitol. However, activists are continuing to come to Frankfort and make their voices heard. Tuesday, they organized a Tax Day protest.

“We are all citizens of Kentucky. So, we all pay taxes here, and that means that we ask the legislators that speak in our name to use those funds to better our lives. They’re not doing that,” said protest organizer Liv Herren.

The group was organized by Advocates Lexington and Louisville, who met in the middle of Frankfort to call for “common-sense” gun laws, reproductive rights and trans rights.

The protest comes a day after the Kentucky Department of Education released guidance in relation to Senate Bill 150. The KDE can no longer advise schools on using chosen pronouns, and districts must remove fifth-grade lessons on puberty from their curriculum.

Protestors say the new recommendations are dangerous could be harmful to trans students.

“Not only will that breed a lot of hate and ignorance towards LGBTQ youth, it’s really detrimental to their mental health and physical wellbeing,” said Herren.

The group tells us they’ll continue to show up at the Kentucky Capitol to speak out on a variety of important issues facing the Commonwealth.

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