ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Each spring, for the last couple of years, state lawmakers across the country filed hundreds of bills to place restrictions on transgender people. And even as Republican-led states already passed laws on bathroom, sports, medical treatment and IDs, the bills keep coming. We're taking a look at what happened this year in Georgia - an example that shows why the legislation continues and how Democrats there responded. WABE's Sam Gringlas reports from Atlanta.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: When the Georgia legislature gaveled in this year, one of the first bills filed, Senate Bill No. 1, was legislation banning transgender girls from girls' sports teams. Georgia Republicans also introduced bills to restrict puberty blockers for minors and prevent the state health plan from covering gender-affirming care. But it was the debate over another bill prohibiting the state from covering these treatments for state prison inmates that took a surprising turn. Four Democrats voted yes.
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ELENA PARENT: Colleagues, I've struggled over this legislation. I have always been committed to ensuring the dignity, humanity and equality of all Georgians.
GRINGLAS: Among those Democrats, Senator Elena Parent, usually a vocal opponent of these kinds of bills.
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PARENT: I feel like we've done more bills this session picking on transgender folks than we've done anything else. But we also need to consider the public's priorities.
GRINGLAS: Republican Senator John Albers framed Democrats' choice this way.
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JOHN ALBERS: If you support sex-change drugs and surgeries with taxpayer dollars for convicted criminals, you've lost touch with your constituents and your grip on reality.
GRINGLAS: That's the kind of language Georgia Republican strategist Brian Robinson told me is already being printed on mailers ahead of the next election.
BRIAN ROBINSON: Democrats refused - that's the words you use, refused - to stand up for taxpayers when given the choice to ban transition surgeries for prisoners because they don't share your values because they are out of touch. That is the message.
GRINGLAS: The Trump campaign deployed similar ads in 2024, and the topic has become a staple of GOP election messaging. In some states, legislatures controlled by Democrats have strengthened rights for transgender people. But the trend is still for more bills every year to restrict them.
ROBINSON: Republicans are out there responding and putting in rules that Americans and Georgians support.
GRINGLAS: The American Civil Liberties Union says nearly 600 anti LGBTQ bills have been filed in state legislatures this year, most focused on the transgender community. That's a record since the ACLU started tracking. According to Pew Research Center, in recent years, Americans have become more supportive of restrictions on transgender rights. But Chase Strangio, who runs the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project, says that's because Republican politicians have flooded voters with messaging that says transgender people are a threat.
CHASE STRANGIO: I think it's incredibly misguided to look at an election aftermath and decide to turn against trans people. And I think in some ways, that's what we're seeing. The whole purpose of constitutional rights is to protect against erosion of the rights of politically unpopular minorities.
GRINGLAS: In Georgia, some Democrats are debating how to handle the issue. In the Senate, a few voted with Republicans on that transgender prisoners bill, but in the House, Democrats tried a different approach.
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UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #1: (Chanting) Take a walk.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #2: (Chanting) Take a walk.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #1: (Chanting) Take a walk.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE #2: (Chanting) Take a walk.
GRINGLAS: Almost the entire Democratic Caucus walked out in protest. They skipped the vote, drawing criticism from Republicans like Majority Leader Chuck Efstration.
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CHUCK EFSTRATION: To see members flee the chamber because they are unwilling to actually represent their constituency and let it be known to all Georgians where they stand is incredibly disappointing.
GRINGLAS: Outside the chamber, as the bill passed, House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley said Georgia Democrats are focused on more pressing issues like health and education.
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CAROLYN HUGLEY: People send us here to do great work. They did not send us here to bully people, to discriminate against people. Many of us are descendants of those...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hallelujah.
HUGLEY: ...Who have felt the same thing.
GRINGLAS: Republicans have pledged to bring up more votes on transgender-focused bills next year as the 2026 midterms get underway. For NPR News, I'm Sam Gringlas in Atlanta. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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