Georgia Democrats' frustration with anti-transgender bills boils over into a walkout

ATLANTA (AP) — Boxed into what they saw as an unsavory vote on outlawing spending on gender affirming care for transgender prisoners, Georgia Democrats chose a third option Wednesday. They walked out.

Chants of “Take a walk!” echoed under the gold dome of the state Capitol from dozens of House Democrats who said they’re exhausted by a blizzard of bills attacking transgender people.

The bill at hand, Senate Bill 185, would ban state prison spending on “sex reassignment surgeries,” hormone replacement therapy, or other surgeries “intended to alter the appearance of primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”

The 100-2 vote, which sent the measure to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto, was a chance for Republicans to embarrass Democrats on an issue that the GOP believes is unpopular with voters.

After Donald Trump hammered Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on her support for transgender people, including those in prison, during the campaign he has issued a series of executive orders trying to reverse President Joe Biden’s support for transgender rights.

The walkout reflected a broader frustration at other measures. Until this year, Georgia had moved cautiously on measures against transgender people, even as other Republican-led states pushed much farther.

Georgia lawmakers in 2022 passed a law that allowed the state high school athletic federation to rule out participation by transgender girls in high school sports.

But top Republicans including House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones made it a priority this year to outlaw such participation in high school sports and add a prohibition on participation by trans women in college sports. That measure, Senate Bill 1, has received final passage.

In 2023, Georgia Republicans passed a law that banned gender confirming surgeries for those younger than 18. But unlike other states, they allowed youths already on hormone therapy to continue, and allowed puberty blocking drugs for those younger than 18.

This year, Senate Republicans have pushed to outlaw hormone therapies and puberty blockers for those younger than 18. House members have watered down Senate Bill 30 to still allow access to drugs if two physicians approve. Its fate remains unclear with the session scheduled to end Friday.

Georgia would move toward the forefront of anti-transgender legislation with a bill to outlaw state employee health insurance plans and the Medicaid health plan from paying for gender-affirming care. That measure is being pushed by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican and possible candidate for statewide office in 2026. It's also awaiting final action.

The Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ rights group, counts as many as 14 other states that ban transgender benefits in public employee health insurance. It also says there are as many as 10 states where Medicaid excludes transgender-related care.

In Georgia, lawsuits by employees, Medicaid recipients and prisoners led the state to settle lawsuits and grant transgender care benefits to each group. Opponents say the measures violate protections of the U.S. Constitution and legally binding agreements made when the state settled the suits. Republicans claim rewriting state law will let the state annul those settlements.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Tanya Miller of Atlanta attacked Republicans before the walkout over the prison care bill, noting testimony showed maybe five state inmates were seeking gender affirming care.

“What is going on with my colleagues that they have become obsessed with what is happening in transgender citizens’ pants and their underwear and their bedroom and their medical robes, when they talk to their doctors, when they deal with their families?" Miller asked.

House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, a Republican from Mulberry, said the Democratic walkout equals "support for taxpayer-funded sex change surgeries for state prisoners.”

“To see members flee the chamber because they are unwilling to actually represent their constituency, put the vote on the board and let it be known to all Georgians where they stand is incredibly disappointing,” Efstration said.

The drama in Georgia came as transgender issues are debated in other states.

In California on Tuesday, a committee blocked bills meant to limit transgender athlete participatio n even after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he believed allowing trans athletes to compete in sports matching their gender identity was unfair. Nevada saw its high school athletic federation vote to limit students to sports aligning with their birth sex. Colorado is considering a bill that would define it as discrimination to refer to a transgender person by their gender or name from before they transitioned.

House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, a Columbus Democrat, dismissed Georgia Republicans' actions as “political theater.”

“People sent us here to do great work,” she said. “They did not send us here to bully people, to ostracize people, to discriminate against people.”