An Ohio pastor-turned-lawmaker backs a Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act for schools

An Ohio pastor-turned-lawmaker backs a Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act for schools May 28, 20266:00 AM ET From The Statehouse News Bureau By  Sarah Donaldson Republican state Rep. Gary Click, from northern Ohio, is a Baptist pastor and three-term lawmaker. Here, he poses for a portrait in his office in Columbus, Ohio, in February. Andrew Spear for NPR hide caption toggle caption Andrew Spear for NPR Ohio state Rep. Gary Click recalls the comfort he felt going to church as a child and when he declared his faith before a congregation at the age of 12. "I went down and I just told the Lord, I said, if you want me to be a pastor, I'll be a pastor," Click recounted in an interview. He did become a Baptist pastor — and later, a lawmaker. Click, 60, is a three-term Ohio legislator. God created three institutions, he says: the family, the home and the government. "As good stewards, we should be involved in all of those, to one extent or the other," Click says. Sponsor Message He's the architect of the state's ban on gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for minors. He's backed a range of bills, from less-controversial ones like requiring schools to allow excused absences for religious reasons to hotly debated ones, like restricting abortion and requiring K-12 schools to let students leave during the day for religious study. Artwork depicting the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk is seen in the office of Ohio state Rep. Gary Click. Andrew Spear for NPR hide caption toggle caption Andrew Spear for NPR But Click says he's not legislating his own religion, because you don't have to be a Christian to agree with what he introduces and advances. A bill named for Charlie Kirk about teaching religion's impact on America "The Bible says 'Thou shalt not kill.' Now, am I legislating the Bible if I support laws against murder? No, I'm not," he says. "Says 'Thou shalt not steal.' If we have laws against theft, and actually, I have a burglary bill right now, am I...