Need someone with principles to fight for women and children? Rep. Toni Hasenbeck is the kind of woman you want on your side.
Independent Women’s Forum is proud to announce that Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, a member of the Oklahoma State House, is the latest entry in our popular series of Champion Women profiles.
Hasenbeck, who taught 7th graders in the public school system for 17 years and is the mother of three, does not shy away from tackling hot-button issues. She is the principal House author of the Save Women’s Sports Act, which bars men from participating in competitive women’s athletics. It took several tries to pass the bill.
Hasenbeck was the author of a successful bill to ban giving minors opposite-sex hormone regimens and/or surgically altering the sex characteristics of minors. “Young people,” she told a reporter, “may not fully grasp the significance of the choices they’re making at the time and may later face distress over the life-altering changes they underwent as a preteen or teenager. The Legislature must continue to help protect kids from rushing into serious decisions that should be made as an adult.”
She led the charge to pass the “Women’s Bill of Rights” in Oklahoma. When the bill wasn’t called for a vote before the session ended, Governor Stitt responded with a “Women’s Bill of Rights” which offered guidance to state agencies but fell short of codifying “male” and “female” terms in state law. Now, Hasenbeck is working to pass her bill in the 2024 legislative session.
Why is Hasenbeck, a willowy woman with blonde hair, who has the poise to hold her ground on Amanpour & Company without breaking a sweat, willing to take on controversial issues? Maybe it was 4-H Club and chasing all those runaway cows with her mother. Her father, a nationally known livestock auctioneer, often went out of town, and whenever he did, the cows got loose.
Hasenbeck has taken a lot of heat, but she holds onto humor and perspective. “I’m so sick and tired of having people try to tell me that I’m a cis-gendered female,” she says. “And if you could see me in person, honestly, I have blonde hair and wear a gob of makeup. I spend a great deal of time and effort reinforcing my pronouns. And so, I just feel like, if you can’t identify my pronouns, if you can’t figure it out, that’s a problem. I don’t believe in changing the English language to have it suit the needs of five people, or 500 people.”
Toni Hasenbeck is the kind of woman you want on your side—whether it’s because the cows are getting loose or you need someone with principles to fight for women and children.
