The Kansas State Board of Nursing isn’t commenting about its apparent pursuit of an investigation of a Kansas nurse over off-duty comments she made opposing transgender theory – a move RN Elaine Gebhardt says is an attack on her First Amendment right to free speech.
KSBN President Andrea Watson directed the Informer’s questions on the case to the KSBN office in Topeka. Telephone messages left there regarding a notice of investigation letter sent earlier this month to Gebhardt were not returned as of early this week.
Gebhardt posted the letter in mid-November on her “X” (Twitter) page, which was dated October 9 of this year. The letter informed her she was the subject of an investigation by KSBN on the allegation that she had “been using social media to attack the transgender population, and to debase healthcare processes.”
Gebhardt frequently comments supporting the conservative side of political arguments on her X Page. She told The Sentinel the probe from KSBN was the result of complaints from a trans individual with whom she had argued in an X exchange.
“I happened to post this video under the account of a (unknown at the time) trans-identifying man,” Gephardt told the outlet. “This trans-identifying man then went on to abuse and harass me because they didn’t like me telling them to just live their life without making a fuss, I guess??”
“They then went off of X and found my workplace on LinkedIn (which I had forgot about because it was only ever used for 1 school assignment I had)” she continued, “and they posted it on X and encouraged their followers to dox my job.”
In a video posted about the investigation, Gephardt said the probe was not related to either her employer nor her delivery of patient care. In an interview with the board pursuant to the investigation, she questioned KSBN’s interest in her involvement with an organization, “Gays Against Groomers,” which had nothing to do with health care.
“I find it extremely odd that the KSBN was concerned (with) my extracurricular activities with Gays Against Groomers,” she told The Sentinel, “specifically because it had no relation to my nursing practice. When I expressed that in the interview, I was brushed off. And it feels very targeted; because I am involved in a group that is controversial, I am being specifically targeted.”
“This investigation by the Board of Nursing is an infringement by the government to silence me because I won’t bow to these lies, misinformation, and down-right malpractice,” she told The Sentinel. “I will stand against this and make our Founding Fathers proud because they didn’t fight for the state to take us down like this.”
Julianna Rieschick, who according to the KSBN website heads the investigation Committee which meets December 9, could not be reached for this article. Gebhardt told The Sentinel she was told the committee would render a decision on the investigation by that meeting date.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
