Country Star Chely Wright Gets Emotional About Texas Anti-Trans Orders: ‘I’m Not A Violent Person But…’

Pioneering out country music star Chely Wright told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah that she’s mad enough to fight over Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent orders targeting parents of transgender kids.

On Friday’s edition of The Dean Obeidallah Show, the host talked with Ms. Wright about a raft of orders Abbott has proposed that take aim at, among other things, parents who seek gender-affirming health care for their kids.

Wright got emotional while explaining to Obeidallah about her faith, and about her anger at GOP officials who propagate policies like these:

Dean: When you see the law like in Texas where the Governor there and the AG Ken Paxton teamed up literally calling on licensed professionals and members of the general public to report parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears the minors are receiving gender-affirming medical care. They are coming between a parent and a child–just ending the support network that might be there thankfully for the kid–and the worst part, the worst part, Chely—and I know you know your personal faith–a lot of this is justified in their twisted perversion of their own faith and namely their view of Christianity–it’s not Christianity in my view but their view of Christianity.

Chely: It’s painful, it’s painful to watch and we can’t look away their days and you know past couple of years I just I want to get into bed and pull the covers over my head it’s so painful to watch. But we can’t look away and we cannot isolate ourselves from the fact that Texas and their leadership, they are criminalizing the very essence of what it is to be a parent to a child, which is love your child unconditionally. And the journey that a lot of these parents who have a faith practice and they earnestly believe it, they believe–as I believe in my faith and the tenants of my faith practice, they do too–but the journey that so many of these parents have gone on to go from point a of being anti-gay anti-trans–and it’s usually based in lack of understanding lack of education, lack of a broader worldview. The journey they take when they are 9 year old, 15 year old, 19-year-old child comes to them and says mom, dad or mom-mom or dad or dad, you know, this is who I am and I know this is a lot of news to digest. The journey those faith-based parents go on to learn to be OK and not just be OK with their child but to celebrate their child, that is being undone and criminalized. I’m not a violent person but I just I feel like I could fight. Again, they [GOP elected officials] don’t need it, they don’t think it, they’re doing it to drum up political business. That’s it. Full stop. End of sentence.

Watch above via SiriusXM.