ATLANTA — On Tuesday, the Georgia state Senate approved a proposal aimed at limiting public funding for gender-affirming healthcare for adults. The bill’s destiny is uncertain in the state House, highlighting the hesitation of the Republican-led state to actively pursue a range of laws affecting the transgender community, despite a nationwide trend.
The Senate voted 33-19 in favor of Senate Bill 39, which seeks to prohibit state funds from being allocated for gender-affirming treatments within health insurance plans for state employees, those at public universities, Medicaid recipients, and the prison system. This initiative, led by state Senator Blake Tillery, a Republican from Vidalia, initially focused on gender-affirming surgeries for minors. However, under pressure from Democratic lawmakers, Tillery admitted that it also encompasses a wide array of services for adults.
“This legislation indicates that state taxpayer money will not support transgender surgeries,” remarked Tillery during the discussions. If passed, this law would position Georgia as a state with stringent restrictions on public funding for adult gender-affirming care, building upon its previous partial ban for minors.
Democratic legislators argue that such a measure could infringe upon federal laws, contending that Republicans are targeting a marginalized group for political gain. “These initiatives will not erase the existence of transgender individuals in our community,” asserted Senator RaShaun Kemp, an Atlanta Democrat, who emphasized his identity as a married gay man and father. “It appears that this is the intention behind the current legislative actions.”
Georgia has recently settled multiple lawsuits that ensured gender-affirming healthcare benefits for state employees, those working in public universities, Medicaid recipients, and inmates. Advocates worry these settlements create binding agreements that the state cannot simply overturn. Nevertheless, Tillery contends that health insurance contracts are subject to change at the state’s discretion.
The legal challenges to denying benefits for transgender individuals stem from a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that prohibited discrimination against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. After the Senate debate on Tuesday, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harold Jones II voiced concerns, stating, “This law is undoubtedly illegal and unlikely to survive any constitutional examination.”
In response, Tillery maintains that the 2020 ruling does not impede his bill’s implementation. “It does not state that adults cannot access transgender care; rather, it states that state funds cannot be utilized for transgender surgeries for adults,” he explained.
This year, Georgia Republican lawmakers have prioritized legislation prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in school and college sports, mirroring executive orders from Donald Trump aimed at the transgender community. However, many states have already enacted similar laws. Currently, Georgia law grants the authority to manage such decisions to a high school athletic federation, which prohibited transgender athletes in the year 2022.
House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, has indicated a preference for a focused approach on sports-related legislation, showing limited enthusiasm for other proposals. This stance illustrates the contrast between the Senate—where Republicans have established a solid 33-23 majority through gerrymandering—and the House, which features a less secure GOP majority. While Senate Republicans often seek to draft laws appealing to hardcore party supporters, House Republicans face the necessity to preserve a fragile 100-80 majority.
Statewide election trends illustrate that while Republicans typically succeed, formidable Democratic candidates can indeed triumph over weaker Republican rivals. This political environment contributed to Georgia’s election of two Democratic U.S. senators prior to Trump’s narrow victory in the state by two percentage points in 2024.
