Trans-rights activists protest inside the state Capitol, right outside the House chamber, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A large group of transgender activists entered the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday, protesting new proposals by the state legislature that would ban gender-altering procedures for young people.

The boisterous protest generated a firestorm of criticism with critics saying an angry mob had taken over the state capitol.

About 150 protesters from Oklahomans For Equality and Freedom Oklahoma started their demonstration outside of the building, then moved indoors to occupy the interior rotunda, according to The Daily Mail. The activists were protesting four proposed bills that ban genital reassignment surgeries as well as cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers that sterilize young people.

SB129 would prohibit gender transition procedures for those under 26, while SB252 caps the law at 18 and younger, according to The Washington Free Beacon. SB129 would also punish physicians for providing such procedures. Under the proposed measure, doctors would also lose their license to practice and would be criminally prosecuted.

The bills have not yet come up for a vote in the legislature.

Chanting loudly, the protesters carried signed with the printed words "You can't erase us" and "Save Trans Lives."

Social media videos showed the activists protesting loudly while local media reports classified the mass protest inside the capitol building as peaceful. Senators could be seen exiting their chamber and walking through the crowd to get to the House chamber without physical or verbal altercations, according to The Washington Examiner.

Attorney Clay Travis posted video of the protest, writing: "Trans activists took over the Oklahoma state capitol because @GovStitt is passing legislation to prevent gender reassignment surgery for kids under 18. In most states you can't get a tattoo before 18, but 15 year olds can get their breasts removed? Crazy."

Media personality Collin Rugg also tweeted video of the protest, writing: "NEW: Angry mob of transgender activists storm Oklahoma Capitol. Will they be thrown in prison for threatening democracy?"

Journalist Andy Ngo tweeted another video of the protesters, writing: "Militant #trans activists occupied Oklahoma Capitol on Monday to try to stop conservative lawmakers from passing bills banning the transitioning of children in the state, as well as restrictions on teachers hiding trans identity of students from parents."

The trans activists called the legislation "genocide," claiming that restricting youth from these types of irreversible procedures could drive more to suicide, according to The Examiner.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has called for a statewide ban on gender transition surgeries and life-altering hormones for minors. Last year, Stitt signed bills to prevent transgender athletes from participating in female sports and to require students to use the school restroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate, according to The Tulsa World.

In his State of the State address before the Oklahoma legislature on Monday, Stitt spoke of his support for the new bills.

"We must protect our most vulnerable—our children," Stitt said. "After all, minors can't vote, can't purchase alcohol, can't purchase cigarettes. We shouldn't allow a minor to get a permanent gender-altering surgery in Oklahoma."

"That's why I am calling on the Legislature to send me a bill that bans all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors in the state!" he said. "As governor, I will never shy away from calling out right from wrong."

If passed, Oklahoma's transgender healthcare legislation would be the strictest in the U.S.

As CBN News has reported over the past several years, new research is raising even more questions about gender dysphoria in children and teenagers.

In the latest example, a leading gender dysphoria expert in Finland is speaking out against transgender treatments for minors, telling local media the vast majority of children outgrow gender confusion.

Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, the chief psychiatrist at Tampere University, home to the country's largest pediatric gender clinic, explained to Helsingin Sanomat, a local newspaper, that "four out of five" children expressing gender confusion move past those feelings by adolescence.

The Finnish doctor is also speaking out against the oft-repeated narrative in support of early intervention for children expressing gender dysphoria: the suggestion that, if they are not affirmed in their chosen sexual identity, they will commit suicide.

She described the claim as "purposeful disinformation" and "irresponsible."

"Mentally healthy young people who experience their gender in a way that differs from their biological body are not automatically suicidal," Kaltiala explained.

She added, "It is not justified to tell the parents of young people experiencing transgenderism that the young person is at risk of suicide without corrective treatment and that the danger can be countered with gender reassignment treatment."


In this screen capture, the protesters are focused on a shadowy, masked figure who is wearing a witch or warlock hat while standing on the balcony. (Screen capture courtesy Nick Camper/Twitter)

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