WPR: State senators formed a nonprofit organization to pay for favorable public testimony
The short-lived nonprofit paid for at least one out-of-state anti-trans activist to travel to Cheyenne. It’s unknown how much money changed hands.
Senator Anthony Bouchard (SD-6) and two other state senators formed a nonprofit organization in 2023 to secure favorable testimony on an anti-LGBTQ+ bill they wanted to pass.
Luka Hein, a Nebraska resident, provided public testimony to the Wyoming Senate Labor Committee on Feb. 3, 2023, advocating for “Chloe’s Law” — a bill aiming to ban gender-affirming care for minors across Wyoming.
During that testimony, Hein did not disclose her connection to the nonprofit — dubbed the Senate Conservative Leadership Caucus — and did not register as a lobbyist.
It’s unknown how much Hein was either paid for her testimony or reimbursed for travel expenses. The nonprofit itself is exempt from filing a 990 tax form with the IRS and the senators have not responded to requests for comment.
“I guess it’s not that they can’t do it. It’s a question of whether they should do it,” Albany County Sen. Chris Rothfuss (SD-9) said. “And if you support transparency in government, then this is a type of activity that should smell bad.”
An investigation published Friday by Wyoming Public Radio details what is known — and unknown — about the secretive nonprofit formed by sitting state senators to secure crucial anti-LGBTQ+ testimony.
Read or listen to the results of that investigation on Wyoming Public Media’s site or catch it on Open Spaces, available now as a podcast and airing Sunday at noon on Wyoming Public Radio.
All major medical and psychological associations in the United States recognize gender-affirming care as valid, sometimes life-saving medicine. The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have each denounced attempts to outlaw it.
Yet half the states have outlawed or limited this care, leaving nearly 40 percent of transgender youth in the U.S. living under a legal regime that prohibits the highest standard of care for their population.
Those states include Wyoming, which failed to pass Chloe’s Law in 2023 but did pass a similar law this year. Integral to this effort have been a handful of “detransitioners” who travel the country advocating for these bans in state legislatures.
Detransitioners are individuals who once received a gender-affirming surgery, have come to regret it, and now advocate for blanket bans on any gender-affirming care for youth. It is extremely rare for anyone under the age of 18 to receive a gender-affirming surgery, extremely rare for someone who has received such a surgery to regret it, and also rare, among the extreme minority who regret their surgery, for detransitioners to feel that care should be banned for everyone.
“There were no in-state advocates for the legislation, because it certainly isn't a problem in the state of Wyoming,” said Rothfuss, who voted against the ban. “So there was a requirement, effectively, to look around the rest of the country for these remote circumstances where you have an individual who is detransitioning that would be willing to provide testimony.”
The business of advocating for anti-trans policies can be lucrative. For example, Chloe Cole, for whom the original bill was named and who testified in Wyoming in 2024, has made up to $200,000 for this work.
The healthcare ban lawmakers passed earlier this year was one of three anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed in the last two sessions. Since 2023, the state has also forbidden transgender women and girls from competing on high school sports teams consistent with their gender identity and instituted a new law requiring schools to out transgender students to their families, even to those families who are unsupportive.
Albany County School Board trustees — including two who work as mental health professionals — said the new outting law endangers students, who could find themselves kicked out and homeless as a result of a forced outting.
> All major medical and psychological associations in the United States recognize gender-affirming care as valid, sometimes life-saving medicine. The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have each denounced attempts to outlaw it.
Doesn't say good things about the state of our "major medical and psychological associations" now does it.
Jeff, I listened to your WPR report on Open Spaces and I immediately called Marci Shaver to congratulate her on the question she asked and to discuss her thoughts on the subject. I want to thank you for reporting on this payment and how these PACs are operating. It seems every legislator is starting one and the media is now catching on to the performative aspect of pre-arranged testimony as it became apparent with many of the bills brought by the GOP. The felony bill brought by Rep. Ember Oakley and her friend from Riverton offering basically BS about thefts occurring in her store comes to my mind. .
I was not really engaged in this issue but I was in the Senate balcony when Luka Hein was seated in the Chambers. I came to Cheyenne to testify against another GOP overreach bill and decided to spend a little time observing. While I did not realize what was happening at the time, Anthony Bouchard noticed me and he sent Luka up to the balcony to sit two seats to my right. Old Tony thinks all men are the same when it comes to women and that is not the case.
Since that incident I did a little dive into Luka Hein and it has been depressing as she has never had a good break unless you think getting paid by 3 old men in the Wyoming Senate as a "good thing". I think it's disgusting and while Tony is gone, the self proclaimed christians former Army LT. COL Troy McKeown and Dan Laursen should be hounded out of office for their disgusting use of money and power to exploit a fragile soul.
Here are the issues as I see them....
1. Luka Hein was a young woman that was exploited by older males that is still being exploited by older males, led by known child groomer Anthony Bouchard.
2. Luka Hein was a young woman that grew up in an online world into a society that lacked the basis to deal with the "truths" that the internet provided.
3. Luka Hein was born into an America whose Medical and Pharmaceutical industry that gladly will pump you full of white pills and modify your perceived ills while being protected by one of the worst laws ever conceived, HIPAA.
Luka's journey to this place started at a strife-filled home followed by male exploitation that eventually led to the American Medical system to "fix" her.
There is a great deal to learn from this journey and most of these issues stem from America's total lack of any true sex education, even as online access provided insight into adult issues that kids had zero guidance to understand. Due to this lack of education, society can end up with a "Carrie" situation or in actual life Luka Hein. Luka's journey is a tragedy but tells some real life issues that I have thought about since high school. As with every touchy subject, it is difficult to express the nuances of situations without making everyone focus on the most salacious of the points. Let's just start by saying that depending on when adolescents start maturing (early or late) and how they start maturing plays a huge role in how one proceeds at this "cruel" time in life.
Early developers often hunch over to avoid attention. At this same moment men come calling on these young women who have been provided virtually zero information about the nature or persistence of their desires. So how do young women protect themselves? A myriad of possibilities but one that is more readily available is considering transitioning as that would seemingly stifle a lot of possible negative outcomes of male attention. It is sad to me that young women are treated so poorly that they have to respond in this manner is an indictment of society as a whole and not some specific medical provider.
I really hope Luka finds some happiness in this world and I also hope that America would make changes in its understanding of sex to become a more enlightened society; however, I see little hope in that avenue when the voters of Wyoming send the worst form of humanity to the Statehouse in Cheyenne.