Jury convicts demonstrator who protested against ‘extreme’ anti-LGBTQ bill in KY Capitol
The first of 20 people to face trial for protesting the heavily-criticized Senate Bill 150 in the state Capitol last year was found guilty last week, according to court records.
Lyndon Diggins was charged with third-degree criminal trespassing after protesting inside the statehouse in March 2023 as lawmakers successfully overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the bill. A jury convicted Diggins of the charge last week, court records say. It’s a misdemeanor offense, and Diggins, who’s 26, was ordered to pay a $1 fine. Diggins was also ordered to pay $155 in court costs.
At the time it was being pushed through Kentucky’s legislature, Senate Bill 150 was called the most “extreme” and “worst” anti-LGBTQ piece of legislation in the country by pro-LGBTQ rights groups including the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU of Kentucky and the Trevor Project.
The bill banned gender-affirming care for trans youth, including puberty blockers, and implemented further restrictions on teachers using students’ preferred pronouns, notification of curriculum related to human sexuality, and transgender students’ use of school bathrooms.
The protesters who occupied the chamber’s gallery led chants during an active session. These chants included references to Sen. Karen Berg’s (D-Louisville) son dying by suicide and the shooting death of Louisville transgender woman Zachee Imanitwitaho in 2023.
A jury ruled that Diggins knowingly remained on the floor of the Capitol gallery without permission of the state House of Representatives, according to court documents. Kentucky State Police previously said in a statement that the protesters who were arrested were given the chance to leave without being placed under arrest.
House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, said at the time that House leadership did not make the call to remove the protesters, but that their behavior did not meet “proper levels of decorum.”
During the trial, Franklin County Attorney Max Comley called several Kentucky State Police troopers who testified against Diggins, according to court documents. The defense, led by Robert Heleringer, called Diggins to the stand and showed several exhibits to the jury, including the Senate bill, the legislature record and the bill’s vote count.
Heleringer also asked the judge for a “directed verdict,” which would allow the judge to make a ruling on the case without a jury’s input if the judge decided there wasn’t sufficient evidence to warrant a jury verdict. Franklin District Judge Kathy R. Mangeot rejected those motions from Heleringer. Heleringer had also requested that the charges against Diggins be dismissed because Diggins had a Constitutional right to protest. That motion was also denied.
Nineteen other protesters are still expected to face criminal trespassing trials for their alleged involvement in the protest, according to court records. The next trial is set for Wednesday, and the cases aren’t expected to conclude until June.
Ben Potash, a lawyer representing three of the defendants, previously told the Herald-Leader “these cases never go to trial.”
“This is different because your average person charged with (criminal trespassing) is someone drunk in somebody’s driveway,” Potash said. “These charges are not intended to prosecute First Amendment protesters. But that is the way it went that day.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2024 at 2:03 PM.
