Three Texas Democrats helped their Republican colleagues pass a controversial state bill that would ban transgender youth from getting hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition-related surgeries.
This past Friday, in an initial vote in the House, 12 Democratic state representatives favored passage of Senate Bill 14 after the party successfully delayed the bill on a technicality twice the week before. Two-thirds of those Democrats said they had meant to vote against the measure.
Although nine Democrats moved back in step with the rest of their party in the final vote on Monday, three Democratic representatives voted in favor again, helping Republicans move the bill to the Senate for confirmation. After that, it goes to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.
SB14 is expected to be one of the most consequential bills in this year’s legislative session, severely restricting trans people under 18 from accessing medical care related to transitioning. Texas has one of the largest transgender youth communities in the country, with 29,800 residents between 13 and 17 who identify as transgender. It is the third largest community behind California and New York, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law.
The bill would also affect youth who are already receiving transition-related care. It says those individuals would be “weaned off” treatment in a “medically appropriate” manner.
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SB14 has prompted protests at the state Capitol in Austin, where members of the LGBTQ communities and their allies have repeatedly demonstrated against the legislation. Some Democratic lawmakers, including nine openly LGBTQ state representatives, have joined those efforts.
The bill, which the Texas GOP has called “a top legislative priority,” is one of several anti-trans proposals that have been filed by Republicans this legislative session. GOP legislators have also introduced bills prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity and banning transgender athletes from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams, among other measures. Both of those bills have already passed in the Senate and House.
A poll conducted by the University of Texas at Austin last month found that the majority of Texas voters, 58 percent, support banning doctors from offering gender-affirming care to minors.
The three Democratic lawmakers who voted in favor of SB14 are Representatives Harold Dutton, Tracy King and Shawn Thierry.
In a statement defending her vote, Thierry said last Friday, “I have made a decision to place the safety and well-being of all young people over the comfort of political expediency.”
She continued: “It is more core belief and conclusion that we should remain consistent in the premise that children must be given special provisions under the law as they cannot fully appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions. As such, the best practice should be to raise the age to 18 for gender modification.”