Who's this legislative dipshit? Meet Pastor Gary Click (R-Fremont)
Thankfully one of the dumbest state legislators was in charge of charge of the legislature's worst idea.
Ohio Legislature Lame Duck Sessions can best be described as a weeks-long campaign of terror in which wretched swamp monsters try to ram through whatever barbaric new idea is being fed to them by a conspiracy theorist podcaster or a billionaire-funded think tank.
It’s early in the session, but we celebrated a rare albeit temporary reprieve from the never-ending reactionary assault on the state’s marginalized communities.
From Jeremy Pelzer of cleveland.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Controversial legislation that would prohibit Ohio doctors from performing gender reassignment surgery on minors has been placed on hold until next year, according to a lead co-sponsor of the bill.
House Bill 454 would ban Ohio doctors from performing gender-affirming surgery on patients younger than 18. It also would set a number of conditions for doctors to prescribe cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to minors, including approval from a second doctor and that patients must have received counseling for at least two years, have had any past abuse or trauma treated, or have been screened for depression, autism spectrum disorder, or “other comorbidities that may be influencing the minor individual’s gender dysphoria.”
As noted by Pelzer, over a quarter of the Ohio House of Representatives sponsored this legislation, which would lead to a spike in teenage suicide.
This is Ohio. So even the victories are hard to swallow. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Gary Click, a fundamentalist Baptist from Fremont, conceded there wasn’t enough time in the Lame Duck session, so they’ll revisit the issue in January when the Legislature reconvenes with some new faces that still look and think like the old faces.
Who is this legislative dipshit? Let’s turn to someone who knew him before he won an election.
From tiffinohio.net in July 2019:
Seneca County Republican Party chairwoman Vanessa Treft said in a voicemail that Click is only running for State Representative “for his own personal gain.”
“[Click] is only doing all this bullsh*t for his own personal gain, and I’m f*cking tired of it,” Treft said.
To give you an idea of how politics works: Chairwoman Treft went on to endorse Glick.
There was also the time he “betrayed” a civics group aimed at preventing child abuse.
From David Thornbury, the former president of the Fremont Civics Group, via fremont.net:
“Gary, I have always considered you a friend but you betrayed the Fremont Exchange Club. When I was president you joined our club because you said you were passionate about helping children who were victims of child abuse, investing in our youth and giving back to our community. I now know after you came to our meetings for over a year and never paid your dues after repeated statements were mailed, emails sent, and phone calls made that your intentions were not genuine. It was all for self political gain.”
This stuff would be rejected in a Hollywood writer’s room as too ham-fisted in showing a fundamentalist preacher’s hypocrisy.
But in case you’re wondering, yes, Click is also the type of Christian that believes in your White Jesus-given right to possess a murder machine. This is the level of meme being shared by a sitting state legislator:
Given that trans rights are at the forefront of the new fascist assault on civil society, it’s also of no surprise that Glick is your typical anti-abortion fanatic:
Gotta love how the anti-abortion zealots love to conflate a safe medical procedure with literal infanticide. I suppose a cluster of cells wouldn’t make as effective propaganda as a stock image of a baby who somehow already has a better head of hair than me.
THREAT LEVEL: LOWER THAN LOW
Gary Click has the opposite of juice. He’s just some greasy old man who has hustled a bunch of elderly voters in small-town Ohio. He will never rise to any leadership position.
However, he is a good and dutiful foot soldier. Remember today’s header photo, with Glick praying in front of a camera about all the bad things happening at the Statehouse?
Hours later, he posted this from an undisclosed bar celebrating with new Speaker-elect Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Township).
Click only wants to save babies when he can insert himself into people’s private medical decisions. He has no problem allying with the man who tried to make it easier for slumlords to poison babies with lead paint if that alliance is good for him politically.
In the words of Chairwoman Treft: “[Click] is only doing all this bullshit for his own personal gain, and I’m sick of it.”
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