Dems Rail Against GA Anti-Trans Bill: Say It Will "Turn Georgia Into A Theocracy"

Hell hath no fury like a Georgia woman scorned.

An anti-trans bill in Georgia, which Republicans have promoted in the name of “fairness” within women’s sports, passed in the state legislature last week.

HB 267 had been pushed by an arm of the Frontline Policy Council, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group, whose founding comes from a network of “Christian organizations that exist to glorify God and equip His people to transform the culture.”

While branded as a sports-focused bill, its scope extends far beyond the fields. In practice, the bill could bar trans people from most every aspect of public life. It arguably removes trans people from the entire Georgia State Code, from hate crime provisions, to medical statutes, to fishing licensure.

It also enshrines “father” as “mother” biological, immutable terms — a move that could signal the erosion of trans and same-sex couples’ parental rights.

The 102-54 vote was near-exactly along party lines, with all opposing votes coming from Democrats. However, three Democrats — Rep. Lynn Heffner, Rep. Tangie Herring, and Rep. Dexter Sharper — crossed the aisle to vote in favor of it.

Though the opposition failed to keep the bill at bay, trans allies made their voices heard at the statehouse. Rep. Karen Lupton, a Democrat who was an evangelical for over two decades, condemned the bill in nothing less than biblical proportions.

“This bill has been spoonfed to its supporters by Christian nationalists who are bent on turning Georgia into a theocracy of their design,” she said in a speech to the state legislature. “It is religious judgment wrapped in the cloak of ‘fairness.’”

She and other lawmakers said they had tried previously to rally around causes impacting women’s sports — such as pay inequality and gendered violence — to no avail.

“But God forbid we look past transgender athletes,” she said. (You can view more of her speech below.)

Rep. Park Cannon, dressed in pink, white and blue, paid homage to Monica Helms — a military veteran, a trans woman, the creator of the trans rights flag, and a Georgian. Cannon flagged the bill as a dangerous precedent. The bill would legally bar individuals from using public accommodations in government and publicly owned buildings — such as restrooms at the statehouse — that differ from their gender assigned at birth. Experts have said this puts trans people in danger. Even more, it could redefine the word “equal” when it comes to trans people.

“There's some lines in here that make the case for ‘separate but equal.’ That's where we are?” she said, referring to sections of the bill (pictured below). “Like, water fountains in the 60s?”

Meanwhile, Rep. Imani Barnes, a biomedical research scientist, called out the bill for its misrepresentation of human biology. “I am a scientist, so I'm not going to come up here with my feelings — I'm just going to state facts,” she said. “This bill is not necessary. It is harmful and it goes against scientific consensus, established civil rights, and the principles of equality that we as Americans hold dear.”

Earlier this week, the Senate held a vote on an equivalent bill at the federal level. And upon his return to the Oval Office, President Donald Trump authored an executive order in a similar vein. Since then, we’ve seen a non-stop avalanche of anti-trans policies and vitriol.

But in a speech earlier this week, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama issued his fellow conservatives a warning: Executive orders are not as immutable as they might hope.

“This only lasts as long as President Trump's in office, so we need this vote,” he told the Senate floor. “This executive order that he signed can be reversed.”

The order is currently being challenged in the courts. In the meantime, the federal anti-trans bill failed to pass.