Rhode Island

She’s running for U.S. Senate and is trying to ban gender-affirming care for minors in RI

Published

1 year ago

April 9, 2024

She’s running for U.S. Senate and is trying to ban gender-affirming care for minors in RI

PROVIDENCE – For Republican state Rep. Patricia Morgan, gender-affirming surgery or treatment for minors, and the participation of transgender athletes in school sports, are issues on which to mount a U.S. Senate campaign.

In an email recently sent by her campaign, Morgan, R-West Warwick, flagged a hearing taking place Tuesday on her legislation to ban – and prohibit the use of public funds for – “gender reassignment” treatments for minors. It would also require minors currently taking “puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones” to stop doing so by Jan. 1, 2025.

Morgan, who hopes to replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, wrote in her email: “Activist educators and health care workers, driven more by ideology than by genuine concern for well-being, are targeting our children.”

Rather than offering “proven therapeutic interventions” to children struggling with mental health, their self-image and their family situations, Morgan argues that “ideologues offer a dangerous and deceitful promise: that all their problems can simply be medicated or surgically cut away.”

What do the bills do?

The West Warwick legislator and two of her House Republican colleagues – Reps. Brian Rea and Robert Quattrocchi – have dubbed their bill, H7884, the “Rhode Island’s Children Deserve Help Not Harm Act.” It’s one of two gender-related bills they sponsor that will be considered by House committees this week.

The first bill:

Bans any “gender-transition procedures” and hormone therapies on those under the age of 18.
Opens any doctor who performs such procedures to civil suits and discipline by the state’s medical licensing board.

The second bill, called the “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” (H7727), will be heard Wednesday in the House Education Committee and would:

Ban “students of the male sex” from women’s or girls’ sports.
In the event of a dispute, require a doctor’s note attesting to the student’s sex based on the “student’s internal and external reproductive anatomy,” hormone levels and genetic makeup.

Why is Morgan sponsoring the bills?

First up in the House on Tuesday is a hearing by the House Health & Human Services Committee on the gender-transition bill that has already drawn a heavy stream of comments for and against the legislation.

In an interview Tuesday, Morgan told The Journal that about two dozen parents have told her they believe their children – or others they’ve heard about – are being “manipulated” into seeking gender-affirming treatments.

She cited a pending malpractice lawsuit against the Thundermist Health Clinic by a former patient who alleges she was in “unstable psychiatric condition,” with eight distinct personalities, when she sought and received “transgender affirming treatment” from agenda-pushing doctors at the clinic.

But despite sending an email blast from her campaign account on the bills, Morgan says the issue is not central to her platform.

“No, it’s not going to be the thing that I base my run for the U.S. Senate on,” Morgan said. “But I do still think that it’s a very important issue that we must tackle to protect children.”

“Parents are being manipulated, emotionally blackmailed into agreeing to give their children puberty-blockers by this statement: ‘Do you want a dead child or a child with a different gender?’” she continued.

More: State Republican lawmaker Patricia Morgan is quietly running for the U.S. Senate

Testimony in favor of the bill

“Please pass this bill,” wrote David and Theresa Casale of Lincoln. “What is being done to this generation of children is a disgrace. Evil is only way to describe it.”
“This bill is not anti-trans; it’s pro-child. It’s about recognizing that children cannot, and do not, have the capacity to give informed consent to life-altering medical procedures. It’s about protecting them until they are of an age where they can make these decisions with a full understanding of the consequences,” wrote Kimberly Trow of Coventry.
“Children do not have the mental capacity, especially when they are in crisis, depressed, suicidal or just angry at their parents or the world, to make the kind of alterations to their bodies that this bill would prevent. Allow them to make these crucial decisions as adults,” echoed Laura Rom of Charlestown.

Testimony against the bill

Most, though not all, who opposed the bill acknowledged a personal connection to the population it would affect.

“My name is Eliza and I’m a cisgender, queer freshman in high school with many trans and genderqueer friends. Do not let H7884 pass. Many people close to me have not been able to access gender-affirming care, and for those who have had access to it, it has improved their mental health tremendously. If anything, we need more access to this life-saving care. Yes, life-saving. I have been extremely close to losing multiple transgender friends to suicide after their depression and dysphoria fed off each other,” the teen wrote.
Writing as the “proud parent of a bright and beautiful transgender teen, Amber Ward, of Bristol, urged “swift and decisive action” to dispense with this “hateful and deeply harmful anti-transgender legislation.” “I appeal to your decency and your humanity,” she wrote the legislators. “It is well and credibly documented that anti-LGBTQ+ laws and policies adversely impact the mental health of youth.”
And finally, Alice Kasumi Ellis, of Woonsocket, wrote as “someone who is a transgender woman and was prescribed Estradiol(Estrogen) and Spironolactone, an anti-androgen, at the age of 15 in conjunction with common medical practices for the treatment of Gender Dysphoria.” “In fact I would most likely not be alive today without receiving such treatment at that time in my life,” she wrote. “What contributes to struggles with my mental health are not [Hormone Replacement Therapy] or Puberty Blockers, but the exact societal stigma and bigoted language in this bill and others of its ilk that makes me feel alienated from society and afraid for my safety due to the constant harassment and violence I have personally faced, along with that of my community.”

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Rhode Island

Providence man arrested in connection to narcotics and firearms investigation | ABC6

Published

3 days ago

September 24, 2025

Press Room

Providence man arrested in connection to narcotics and firearms investigation | ABC6

47-year-old Joel Garcia. (courtesy: Rhode Island State Police)
Rhode Island State Police said a Providence man was arrested after police allegedly discovered multiple narcotics and a gun inside two residences on Sept. 23. (courtesy: Rhode Island State Police)

Rhode Island State Police said a Providence man was arrested after police allegedly discovered multiple narcotics and a gun inside two residences on Sept. 23. (courtesy: Rhode Island State Police)

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island State Police said a Providence man was arrested after police allegedly discovered multiple narcotics and a gun inside two residences on Sept. 23.

47-year-old Joel Garcia was charged with possession with the intent to deliver over 1 kilogram of fentanyl, possession with the intent to deliver over 1 kilogram of cocaine, possession with the intent to deliver one ounce to one kilogram of methamphetamine, possession with the intent to deliver fentanyl, possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, possession with the intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of a firearm while committing a controlled substance violation, unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and distribution of a controlled substance in a school zone.

According to RISP, police received court-authorized search warrants for two residences in Providence in connection to a narcotics and firearms investigation.

Inside an apartment on Dresser Street, police allegedly seized 1.7 kilograms of fentanyl, 2.3 kilograms of cocaine, and 147 grams of methamphetamine.

Police also searched Garcia’s residence on Portland Street and allegedly seized one fully loaded pistol.

According to police, Garcia had allegedly used the apartment on Dresser Street to “store, package, and distribute large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.”

Garcia was arrested and charged.

RISP, Providence police, Cranston police, North Providence police, Johnston police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Rhode Island National Guard Counterdrug Program assisted in the investigation.

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Rhode Island

The Ocean State’s Bond With Robert Redford

Published

4 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

The Ocean State’s Bond With Robert Redford

Millions have been mourning the death of a cinematic icon over the last week with the passing of Robert Redford at age 89.

The award-winning actor is arguably one of the most famous of all time. With over 70 films to his credit on screen and nine he directed throughout his career, Redford’s work in cinema stands out as some of the greatest.

Though only two of Redford’s movies were ever filmed in Rhode Island, the Oscar-winning actor has a deep connection with the Ocean State.

Redford’s Family Roots Near Rhode Island

Though no Redfords actually lived in Rhode Island, Robert’s family was longtime residents of Stonington, CT and several members were born in nearby Westerly, RI.

Filming The Great Gatsby in Newport

During his career, Redford came to Newport in the 1970s to film The Great Gatsby at the historic Rosecliff Mansion. Decades later he returned to Rhode Island with the science fiction film The Discovery and even wrote a thank you letter to Newport, praising their preservation efforts in the city.

Rhode Island Honors Robert Redford

Rhode Island never forgot its ties to the beloved actor however. In 2002 Redford was asked to be the commencement speaker at Brown University and that same year Trinity Repertory Company awarded him a Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.

Just one of the many lifetime achievement awards Robert Redford would go on to accumulate during his illustrious career.

20 Stars Who Hail From Rhode Island

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the nation, but it has been home to many celebrities. Though some have moved here, filmed here or attended school here, only a handful were actually born here. These are those celebrities.

Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall

Academy Award and Golden Globe Winners from Massachusetts

These Massachusetts natives have taken home some of Hollywood’s top honors.

Gallery Credit: Michaela Johnson

30 Things To Do in Newport Any Time of Year

Newport has always been seen as a summer destination. Wealthy New Yorkers used to escape the city in the hotter months for this picturesque seaside spot and the label as a summer vacation destination began.

There are, however, plenty of things to do in this historic town in any season and we’ve found a few that you may want to try the next time you head to Newport.

Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall

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Rhode Island

GoLocalProv | Sports | VIDEO: Providence’s Lassiter Scores 44-Yard TD in Vanderbilt’s Upset Over #11 South Carolina

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

GoLocalProv | Sports | VIDEO: Providence’s Lassiter Scores 44-Yard TD in Vanderbilt’s Upset Over #11 South Carolina

Sunday, September 14, 2025

GoLocalProv Sports Team

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Zell Lassiter
PHOTO: Via Vanderbilt

Providence’s Jamezell Lassiter had a big play on a huge stage on Saturday when Vanderbilt football upset #11 South Carolina. SEE 7:25 MARK.

Lassiter, who played for the Edgewood Eagles and the Mount Hope Cowboys and attended the San Miguel School in Providence, smoked the Gamecocks on a 44-yard touchdown score.

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Vanderbilt won 31-7 over No. 11 South Carolina, snapping a 16-game losing streak between the two programs.