Nebraska Democrat halts legislature over trans bill she calls ‘genocide’
A Democratic lawmaker is threatening to cripple the Nebraska legislature’s 90-day session in protest over a bill banning gender-affirming therapies for kids — which she calls a transgender “genocide.”
Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh started her filibuster in late February after a Republican introduced the bill to outlaw hormone treatments, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for those under 18.
“If this legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful — painful for everyone,” the married mother of three threatened fellow lawmakers.
“I will burn the session to the ground over this bill.”
After proudly blocking debate on everything — even items she supports — for nearly three weeks, the Democrat finally agreed to debate a modified version of the bill after it dropped the restriction on hormone treatments, instead banning only gender reassignment surgery for minors.
Even then, she said, it was just to put on the record which lawmakers would “legislate hate against children” — and vowing to continue her filibuster for the rest of the 90-day session ending in June if the vote goes against her this Thursday.
She has cited a 2021 survey by the Trevor Project that found that 58% of transgender and nonbinary youth in Nebraska seriously considered suicide in the previous year, and more than 1 in 5 reported attempting it.
“We are witnessing a genocide,” she told the legislature last week.
“I’ll just call a genocide the genocide. This is what it is. These bills are steppingstones in the eradication of trans Nebraskans. And voting for them is voting for a steppingstone in genocide,” she maintained.
Outraged at the language, Republican Sen. Julie Slama filed a motion to censure the filibustering Dem.
Res the rest of the article at NY Post!! https://nypost.com/2023/03/22/nebraska-dem-calls-ban-on-kids-gender-therapy-genocide/
