An older Wisconsin man apologized to the transgender community during a hearing on a proposed anti-trans bill in his state’s legislature.

The man, identified as Larry Jones of Milwaukee by the Wisconsin Examiner, said he originally came to the hearing to voice his support for state Assembly Bill 104, which seeks to ban all forms of gender-affirming care for anyone under 18 and threatens to revoke the medical licenses of any doctors who provide it. But after hearing directly from trans people, Jones changed his mind.

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“I was invited here to give my support for [the bill]. I have very little knowledge of gay people and things like that. So, when I came here, my eyes were opened,” he said during his testimony.

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A video of the apology, shared by the ACLU of Wisconsin, explains that Larry waited for over six hours in an overflow room to testify in favor of the bill. While talking to others during the wait, he realized how much he didn’t know.

“I was one of the critics that sat on the side and made the decision there was only two genders,” he said. “So I got an education that was unbelievable, and I don’t know just exactly how to say this, but my perspective for people have changed… I’d like to apologize for being here, and I learned a very lot about this group of people.”

“He could’ve just left,” one person commented on TikTok. “But he still chose to speak and publicly admit he had been ignorant on something and had since changed his mind. What a great man. The world needs more Larrys.”

“This made me cry,” said another. “He showed up. He listened. He learned. He changed his perspective. And then he spoke publicly . That is truly remarkable in this climate. Bravo Larry! I’d love to buy you a beer.”

A third simple wrote: “Hope. There is hope. There is hope.”

Despite Larry’s change of heart, as well as the fact that a reported 79 people appeared to speak against the bill compared to only 18 who spoke in favor (including the bill’s authors), the GOP chose to advance the legislation in a 10-5 vote along party lines. Regardless of what happens next, the bill is unlikely to become law because Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has vowed to veto anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

But State Rep. Lisa Subeck (D) told the Wisconsin Examiner she still believes the emotional hearing was indicative of progress.

State Rep. Adam Neylon (R) stated during the hearing that his support for the bill is not “judgment on trans people” but rather his desire for a “conservative approach to medical care that may be irreversible.”

“If you’re accusing us of wanting to be conservative when it comes to the medical care of minors, then that is true…,” Neylon said. “That doesn’t mean we want them [deceased], right? That doesn’t mean we don’t recognize their right to exist.”

The bill, he added, “might not be hitting directly where it should and it might come across political, and I understand the pain and I wanted to stay [at the hearing] to make sure that people had an opportunity to share their things… I would be angry if I was young too, but it’s not coming from a place of saying, like trying to other them or saying, like, you don’t belong in our society.”

Subeck said the comments from lawmakers during the hearing “was a little bit closer to the conversations that we often have when we are sitting one-on-one, talking to each other.”

“In private, legislators have a lot of conversations that don’t reflect the votes that are taken on the floor,” Subeck said. “It makes me a little bit hopeful, because while my Republican colleagues continue down the path of voting their party line — even when they have said they have things to learn and it gives them pause — the fact that they were willing to even sit in that room, in sort of a public sphere, and have a conversation means that there is room for change.”

Not everyone was as open as Neylon, though. Committee Chair state Rep. Clint Moses (R) angered Democrats and trans advocates for allowing most of those in favor of the bill to speak first, rather than alternating between viewpoints, as is typical.

“We sit here for all this time, all these people, you’re allowing the anti-trans voices to go first. It feels like the world is stacked against us and we’re getting tired of it,” testified Cory Neeley. “My voice is cracking because I’m literally fuming at the fact that I’ve sat here all day long listening to people call me a groomer. People calling me a person who doesn’t care about their children… I’m a good parent.”

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