ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia State Capitol backs from state change Hate Crimes Act It could have removed criminal protections against transgender people even if it advanced efforts to impose legal restrictions on the participation of transgender students in sports.
Representatives voted 102-54 for House Bill 267 on Thursday, but only after House leaders on Wednesday stripped off some of the bills that changed the hate crimes law, passed after his death in 2020. Ahmaud arbery. Three Democrats voted for the bill – Lynn Hefner of Augusta, Tanguy Herring of Macon, and Dexter Sharpstar of Valdosta – many other Democrats voted for.
The measure moved to the Senate, which passed its own separate laws.
Georgia High School Athletics Association Transgender students are prohibited from participating in women’s sports by policyhowever, Republican leaders argue that the ban should be set by law and also apply to universities. law Limit participation in sports Transgender students were accepted in 25 other states.
Made by Republican leaders in both the House and Senate Transgender girls are prohibited As President Donald Trump, girls’ priorities for the year We pursue restrictions At the federal level.
“The bill sponsored by the bill,” said Josh Bonner, Republican Rep. of Fayetteville.
The House bill was heavily influenced by a group of Christian conservatives called the Frontline Policy, replacing most references to “gender” in state law with the word “sex.”
Karla Drenner, Democrat of Avondale Estates, called the bill “a part of the calculation, dangerous, deeply discriminatory law that goes far beyond the realm of athletics.”
Drenner, who was the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress when he was elected in 2000, said:
It would have originally removed gender from the hate crime law, which protects crimes from crimes motivated by someone’s gender or gender bias. Democrats warned that it could make it difficult to prosecute hate crimes against transgender people.
Bonner said Wednesday that the general assembly’s lawyers were making changes from “an excessive amount of attention and concern” after saying “it would not be considered meaningless by the review court.”
“Nothing will change that point from the original bill passed several years ago,” Bonner said Wednesday.
Georgia’s Hate Crimes Act passed in a dramatic way several months after being killed by two white men while jogging near Brunswick. The state has been doing it for years without the hate crimes law after courts defeated previous versions.
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