Kemp signs bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender inmates

“To me, it’s just common sense and protecting the taxpayer,” Kemp said after inking the measure at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in middle Georgia.

The prison bill passed the Senate in March with four Democrats breaking ranks to join the chamber’s 33 Republicans. In the House, however, dozens of Democrats walked out in protest. It still passed with the help of three Democratic lawmakers.

Ahead of the vote, Democrats accused Republicans of inflaming a culture war over an issue that affects as few as five transgender inmates in Georgia’s prison system. GOP leaders countered it was about reining in wasteful spending.

They echoed President Donald Trump’s campaign arguments against Vice President Kamala Harris for backing gender-affirming care for federal inmates, a theme that fueled one of the most memorable ads of the campaign cycle.

Once wary of transgender legislation, Georgia Republicans have taken a more aggressive approach since just before the 2022 midterms. That year, lawmakers passed the first in a wave of measures restricting transgender rights.

A year later, Kemp signed a law that banned gender-affirming surgeries for those younger than 18. And this year, House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones made outlawing transgender girls in high school and college sports a core legislative priority.

The prison bill sparked a deeper divide among Democrats. Some rallied against legislation they cast as discriminatory, while others warned their allies not to be dragged into another damaging culture war fight.

Democratic state Sen. Sonya Halpern of Atlanta, who voted for the legislation, said she’d fight against “real attacks” on the LGBTQ community.

“But I will not let my party be dragged into an argument that makes us look out of touch with the very people we claim to represent.”