Kemp’s Final Legislative Push: Stop Trans Kids from Playing Sports

Republican Governors of Utah, Indiana Vetoed State-Sanctioned Bullying of Trans Kids; Kemp Made this Discriminatory Legislation Central to His Agenda as He Faces Trump-Backed Primary Challenge

In the final hours of what might be the last legislative session of his political career, Brian Kemp made a plea to his General Assembly minions: stop Georgia’s trans kids from playing sports. The mean-spirited last push from Kemp came after efforts to add language attacking trans students to legislation failed in the State Senate due to major public pushback, and reflected a cruelty that has defined Kemp’s time in office, including his decision to deprive more than 500,000 Georgians of access to Medicaid.

In addition to being a dangerous attack on trans youth, this legislation is so extreme that similar bills have been opposed by other Republican governorsand over 200 major businesses across the country. Georgia’s anti-trans bill comes after a year of record high anti-trans violence and rhetoric, during which 52 percent of trans and nonbinary youth seriously contemplated suicide.

“The current governor’s use of state-sanctioned bullying of Georgia’s trans youth as a campaign strategy is unconscionable. From his plan to ban trans students from participating in sports, to his push to keep students from learning our nation’s complete and honest history, Kemp is using government power to attack and censor students and teachers in a desperate, cruel attempt to save his dying political career. Brian Kemp is pushing a hateful bill that’s opposed by businesses and fellow Republican governors, divides our communities, and accomplishes nothing other than proving he’ll embrace extreme policies to win over the MAGA base in a brutal GOP primary,” said Max Flugrath, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Kemp’s Anti-Education Agenda: In addition to the language from SB 435which was added to HB 1084 in an effort to ban trans students from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity, Kemp’s anti-education agenda also includes:

• SB 226 which would make it easier to ban books.

• HB 1178 which would further the GOP’s attempts to divide parents and teachers.

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