In the middle of the debate on a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender people in Georgia prisons, House Democratic Leader Carolyn Hugley stood, turned down the chamber’s center aisle and led the majority of her caucus out into the hallway.

“This is day 39 — day 39 — we don’t have (an approved state) budget and many of our members’ bills have not been heard,” Hugley, D-Columbus, said. “We came here to focus on the opportunity for Georgians to live, learn and earn. And what do we get? Political theater.”

Democrats have spent much of this session trying to combat bills that regulate transgender Georgians. Four separate bills regulating transgender people have made their way through the Legislature this year. On Monday, the Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Brian Kemp that would ban transgender student-athletes from playing team sports and public and private K-12 schools and colleges that align with their gender identity.

Republicans, and a handful of Democrats, stayed in the chamber and voted 100-2 to approve Senate Bill 185. Three Democrats joined Republicans to support the bill and two Democrats opposed it.

Back in the chamber, House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Mulberry, chided his Democratic colleagues who left the room, calling out House Democratic Chairwoman Tanya Miller of Atlanta specifically.

“(Miller) is taking a position of support for taxpayer-funded sex changes of state prisoners,” Efstration said. “The fact that those members fled the chamber to avoid putting their vote up on the board should be considered appropriately.”

Diverging approaches

Miller urged Republicans to “let transgender people live.”

“I would ask you this, as we barrel towards the last day of our precious time here in this esteemed body, please stop wasting my time on behalf of the 60,000 strong I represent,” Miller said. “Please stop wasting their time. Stop playing in their faces. Stop manufacturing crisis. Stop making up stuff that nobody asked you for. Stop planting seeds of division in our communities.”

Miller’s Senate counterpart took a different approach to SB 185. Senate Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Elena Parent of Atlanta and three other Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill 37-15.

In the days after the November election, Monday-morning quarterbacks pointed to Democrats’ embrace of transgender rights — amplified by a barrage of Donald Trump’s campaign ads saying “Kamala (Harris) supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners” — as a key reason for her loss.

Parent appeared to take a similar stance.

In a video call with the parent of a transgender child, Parent explained her position as not allowing Republicans to “weaponize” the party’s historic support of transgender people. Polling shows little support for transgender rights and even less support for spending public money on gender-affirming surgeries for transgender inmates.

“If your party can get no public support it will always lose, and I would like to see Democrats win so that we can stop all these bills that bully transgender people,” Parent said in the video.

HB 185 now goes to Kemp for his signature.

_____

©2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.