Nebraska trans care ban for minors advances -- with a twist
Associated Press— A bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in Nebraska is one final step from passing after lawmakers advanced it Thursday, but not before a promise was made behind closed doors to hammer out a compromise between supporters and opponents of the bill before it’s passed. Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering said those urging lawmakers to follow accepted science on transgender health care “are the same people who chanted ‘follow the science’ on COVID-19 until it was no longer fashionable to do so about a year ago.” Kauth referred to transgenderism in youth as “a social contagion.” Hunt shot back at those assertions. “My fear is that 10 years down the road, people will look back and say, ‘Where were the adults to say take it slow?’” The bill was the genesis of a nearly three-week, uninterrupted filibuster carried by Cavanaugh, who followed through on her vow in late February to filibuster every bill before the Legislature — even those she supported — declaring she would “burn the session to the ground over this bill.” When the bill advanced anyway last month, several other lawmakers joined in the filibuster. The Nebraska bill, along with another that would ban trans people from using bathrooms and locker rooms or playing on sports teams that don’t align with the sex listed on their birth certificates, are among roughly 150 bills targeting transgender people that have been introduced in state legislatures this year.