ATLANTA — Georgia Republicans are advancing a second bill to restrict options for transgender teens. And they’re using a tactic they used earlier in the month that critics say is not only wrongheaded but downright sneaky.
Lawmakers in power often find creative ways to use that power as the legislature enters its final days.
Three weeks ago, freshman state Rep. Omari Crawford (D-Decatur) presented his first-ever bill to the Georgia House, which he described from the well as a "proactive measure (that) can save lives."
His bill to address the mental health of student athletes passed overwhelmingly, with members of both parties applauding the success of Crawford’s legislative debut.
The measure crossed over from the House to the Senate – where it ran into a legislative buzzsaw, adding "language I knew nothing about, language I do not support, language that has nothing to do with the mental health legislation that we passed in the House," Crawford said Wednesday.
The new language restricted transgender students playing sports and using locker rooms and restrooms.
"Simply we’re trying to protect girls in sports, is simply what this bill does in changing rooms and restrooms," state Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Buford) told reporters Wednesday. The committee he chairs changed the bill in meeting late Tuesday.
Activists showed up at the capitol a day later to protest, but it was too late to try to stop it.
"You would think politicians, adults in general, would be out to protect all children – all children in Georgia," said Andrea Kramer, a Paulding County mother of a college-age transgender son.
The late language switch-up struck critics as undemocratic, changing the meaning of a measure without offering a public hearing first.
"I don’t know why that’s legally allowed in our system," said Amanda Lee, who tried unsuccessfully to persuade Dixon he was wrong during an encounter in a capitol hallway.
Republicans made no apologies. Democrats have been out of power here for 20 years – but it’s a game they played too way back when. Republicans like to say they learned it from them.
"The bill I drafted and worked hard on was to save lives," said Rep. Crawford, who was a child when Democrats last had power. "And I don’t think some of the language that was added to the bill does that."
The bill would still need to pass the Senate and go back to the House to gain passage by the end of next week, as changed by Sen. Dixon. It would put Rep. Crawford in the position of possibly voting against his own bill.