As Arizona lawmakers voted to advance a bill banning trans youth from receiving gender-affirming surgery, a legislative aide approached Skyler Morrison and handed her a note. Morrison, a trans teen who lives in Phoenix, warned in a testimony delivered to the House Judiciary Committee earlier the same day that Senate Bill 1138 is a pointless and harmful solution to a non-existent issue. At 13 years old, she is years away from being able to surgically transition, and in her speech, she told committee members that the legislation is just an excuse to discriminate.

I still have a good four or five years before I start worrying about it, but its so scary because its really not about protecting kids, Skyler told HuffPost over the phone. Its about stripping our rights away. Thats all they care about.

Among those present for her March 9 testimony was the notes author, state Rep. Walter Blackman. That day, his aide handed Skyler an Arizona Department of Corrections medal inscribed with words like integrity and professionalism, along with a message handwritten on a torn piece of notepad paper. In it, Blackman thanked her for being brave. The GOP lawmaker personally met with Skyler in his office 12 days later, and, during that meeting, he told her he wanted to be a better legislator for all people, according to Skylers father, Andrew.

Although she said it was a really weird gift, Skyler hoped the gold medallion was a sign she had gotten through to Blackman. Shed succeeded in swaying conservatives before. After Skyler testified in February against a sweeping bill banning all forms of gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, including puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, state Sen. Tyler Pace broke with his party to oppose it.

Unfortunately, Skyler was not able to reach across the aisle a second time. Just minutes after writing his message to Skyler, Blackman cast the deciding vote to advance the bill out of committee. He backed the legislation yet again when it came up for a full vote in the Arizona House on March 24, with the bill passing 31-26 in its final hurdle before reaching Gov. Doug Duceys desk. The state Senate had already greenlighted the legislation a month prior in an even narrower 16-12 vote.