ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — A bill aimed at banning gender-affirming care for inmates housed in Georgia prisons passed the state House Wednesday 100-2 after nearly all House Democrats walked out on the vote.
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley of Columbus characterized the bill as part of a Republican fixation on a small population of transgender Georgians and a waste of time. Friday is the final day of the annual 40-day legislative session.
“This is day 39, day 39 and we don’t have a budget, and many of our members’ bills have not been heard,” Hugley said. “We came here to focus on the opportunity for Georgians to live, learn and earn. And what do we get? Political theater. What do we get? Bills that want to legalize discrimination. What do we get? A whole lot of nothing. And our citizens deserve better than this. They deserve better than this. I’ve been in these halls over 30 years, and I know that we can be better than what we’re seeing today.”
As far as either side can tell, there are five people incarcerated in Georgia attempting to seek gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care can range from hormone pills to surgeries, and it’s not clear what the five are seeking. Republican lawmakers have said the Georgia Department of Corrections requested the bill.
The ban on gender-affirming care in Georgia’s prisons is one of five GOP bills focused on transgender Georgians this legislative session, including a pair of dueling measures banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports in K-12 and college that were melded into one proposal that now sits on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
Democrats said the walkout was less about the specific bill before them Wednesday and more about what they called an all-out attack on LGBTQ Georgians.
“We have so many bills with so little data on the reason why we’re even drafting these bills, and it’s a step that had to be taken,” said Rep. Imani Barnes, a Democrat from Tucker. “There’s too many trans bills. They’re attacking the LGBTQ community for no reason. I’m a part of that community, and it means a lot to me.”
Duluth Democratic Rep. Ruwa Romman called the prison bill “strike three” after the House passed the two bills aimed at eliminating transgender participation in school sports.
“We have had no bills on raising the minimum wage,” she said. “We have had one bill pass about housing. We have had no bills on Medicaid expansion. I don’t even know what’s going on with the budget. And you’re telling me that we are going to spend more time on another bill to discriminate?”
The Democrats walked out after Rep. Tanya Miller, an Atlanta Democrat who serves as House minority caucus chair, delivered a searing speech on Republicans’ focus on transgender Georgians and what she called a manufactured crisis.
“We could be solving and tackling the big problems that we are sent here, this body of 180 members, with the learned speaker, collectively representing the state, solving as best we can the big problems, but yet we waste time,” Miller said in her speech.
Critics of the ban on gender-affirming care in prisons argue it is unconstitutional and will invite legal challenges.
Republicans blasted the Democrats for walking out instead of staying to debate the merits of the bill and representing their constituents through a vote. Several Republicans could be seen taking photos of the vote board on the wall that showed dozens of Democrats absent. They continued the one-sided debate as a sea of seats were left empty.
While lawmakers from both parties commonly “take a walk” on hot issues, including on some of the transgender-focused bills this year, a coordinated walkout is rare. Several Democrats walked out during a bitter debate over abortion restrictions in 2019.
House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, a Republican from Mulberry, said the Democrats who participated in Wednesday’s walkout should be punished at the ballot box.
“Rather than support a common sense measure to ensure that Georgia taxpayer dollars don’t fund sex changes for criminal prisoners, Democrats left,” Efstration said. “That’s tantamount to saying they’re not going to represent their district, they’re unwilling to put a vote up on the board. And I think that their actions should be considered accordingly.”
The bill’s author, Cataula Republican Sen. Randy Robertson, framed the issue similarly.
“While I appreciate the fact that we’re not always going to agree on everything that goes on up here, I think we have to have the stamina, the backbone, and the gumption to stay in the fight, to push for those who send us up here, and to never surrender and turn our backs and walk out on our constituents,” Robertson said.
Not all Democrats participated in the walkout. Three Democratic representatives – Lynn Heffner of Augusta, Tangie Herring of Macon and Dexter Sharper of Valdosta – stayed and voted for the bill. Two others – Albany Democratic Rep. David Sampson and McDonough Democratic Rep. Regina Lewis Ward – voted against it. Those who stayed were applauded by Republican lawmakers.
“I will be supporting this bill because I support an individual’s choice but I support the people’s decision on whether or not they pay for those elective procedures,” Heffner said.
Opponents of the bill counter that gender-affirming care encompasses more than surgeries and can be necessary for a person’s wellbeing.
