Sen. Ben Watson speaks in the Senate Chambers at the Georgia State Capitol, Monday, March, 3, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP)
Opponents of the measures accused Republicans of playing politics by targeting transgender people and argued that lawmakers should focus on more pressing issues. They said both bills infringe on the rights of transgender people and their families to make decisions about gender-transitioning treatment.
"This body has promulgated bill after bill attacking trans people with the ultimate goal of making trans folks disappear. We’ve been here before," Senate Minority Whip Kim Jackson, a Democrat who is openly lesbian, said Monday.
At least 26 states have enacted laws restricting gender-transitioning treatment for minors, although most have been slapped with lawsuits.
TEXAS LAWMAKER PROPOSES BILL TO BAN GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR EVERYONE, INCLUDING ADULTS
Four Democrats supported the bill banning gender-transitioning treatment for inmates. (iStock)
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Democrat Sen. Sally Harrell, who has two transgender children, said she wanted "to remind people that we are talking about very real people — parents, children, families."
Sen. Freddie Powell Sims was the lone Democrat who voted for both bills, while four Democrats supported the bill banning gender-transitioning treatment for inmates.
Last month, the Senate passed bills to ban biological boys from playing in girls' sports and stripped public funding for gender-transitioning treatment for adults.
The four bills will now head to the House.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/georgia-senate-advances-pair-bills-ban-gender-transitioning-treatment-minors-inmates