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The Nebraska Legislature voted to advance a controversial bill which would ban gender-affirming care for minors – despite threats from fellow lawmakers.
On the third day of the debate the bill was voted into progression as members of the LGBTQ community gathered in the Capitol to protest the bill, booing lawmakers as they left the legislative floor
Members of the chamber begged their colleagues to reconsider their support for the bill, even after threats to filibuster the rest of the session.
Omaha Senators Megan Hunt and Machaela Cavanaugh promised to filibuster every bill that comes before lawmakers for the rest of the 90-day session.
By the end of Thursday’s debate, other lawmakers had vowed to join that effort, including Omaha Senator Jen Day and Lincoln Senator Danielle Conrad.
Omaha Senator Machaela Cavanaugh promised to filibuster every bill that comes before lawmakers for the rest of the 90-day session
The proposal sparked a three-week long uninterrupted filibuster by Cavanaugh who followed through on her vow in late February to filibuster every bill before the Legislature.
She continued to do this event to those she supported, declaring she would ‘burn the session to the ground over this bill.’
The woke Dem lawmaker stuck with it until an agreement was reached late last week to push the bill to the front of the debate queue.
Instead of trying to eat time to keep the bill from getting to the floor, Cavanaugh decided she wanted a vote to put on the record which lawmakers would ‘legislate hate against children.’
Introduced by Republican Senator Kathleen Kauth the bill would outlaw gender-affirming therapies such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for those 18 and younger.
The purpose of the bill, she has said, is to protect youth from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might later regret as adults, citing research that says adolescents’ brains aren’t fully developed.
It will have to survive two more rounds of debate to pass in the unique one-house, officially nonpartisan Legislature.
Republican Governor for Nebraska Jim Pillen has said he will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk – despite the massive backlash on the bill.
Members of the LGBTQ community gathered in the Capitol to protest the bill, booing lawmakers as they left the legislative floor
Democrat Senator John Fredrickson, who also represents Omaha, broke down in tears as he spoke about coming out to his mother and her death last year
Senator Jen Daly got emotional while begging others to help her prevent the legislation from being passed, saying: ‘I look into my children’s eyes when I get home every day and I see how hard it is to be a person.
‘How hard it is to be a kid, let alone having your very existence being debated by adults on TV.
‘I cannot imagine the pain, I want all of you to go into the rotunda and look into the eyes of those parents and tell them that you’re voting for this bull knowing that it could potentially kill their child.
‘I want you to look at the kids in the balcony and understand the implications of what you’re doing when you vote green on this bill today.’
Democrat Senator John Fredrickson, who also represents Omaha, broke down in tears as he spoke about coming out to his mother and her death last year.
Republican Senator Kathleen Kauth introduced the bill which would outlaw gender-affirming therapies such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for those 18 and younger
The Nebraska Legislature voted to advance a controversial bill which would ban gender-affirming care for minors
They are among roughly 150 bills targeting transgender people that have been introduced in state legislatures this year.
He said: ‘This has been really hard. I can’t stop thinking about my own parents. My mom who passed away last year and she accepted me.’
The bill is being discussed along with another that would ban trans people from using bathrooms and locker rooms or playing on sports teams that don’t align with the sex listed on their birth certificates.
They are among roughly 150 bills targeting transgender people that have been introduced in state legislatures this year.
It comes as law makers signed their own version of the bill into law in Georgie, with Governor Brian Kemp saying: ‘Today I signed SB 140 into law to ensure we protect the health and wellbeing of Georgia’s children.
‘I respect the many hours of respectful debate and deliberation by members of the General Assembly that resulted in final passage of this bill.
‘As Georgians, parents, and elected leaders it is out highest responsibility to safeguard the bright, promising futures of our kids – and SB 140 takes an important step in fulfilling that mission.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
