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Georgia Senate OKs bill to ban state workers from gender affirming care under state health plan • Georgia Recorder

Published

1 month ago

February 11, 2025

Staff Editor

georgiarecorder.com – Ross Williams – 2025-02-11 17:04:00

Georgia Senate OKs bill to ban state workers from gender affirming care under state health plan

by Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder
February 11, 2025

Sen. Blake Tillery. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

State employees who use the state-sponsored health plan may soon be blocked from receiving gender-affirming care like hormone therapy.

The state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that aims to do just that. Before it can become law, it will need to pass the House by April 4 and be signed by Gov. Brian Kemp. If that happens, state employees who get gender-affirming care through the plan will have until the start of 2026 to find different coverage.

“When the state goes through its open enrollment period, we’re making clear to all state employees that we’re not gonna use state taxpayer dollars to pay for this gender-affirming care and transgender surgeries any longer,” said Senate Bill 39’s sponsor, Vidalia Republican Sen. Blake Tillery.

The bill would apply both to state employees on the plan as well as their minor children.

Sen. Blake Tillery and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones listen to Sen. Nan Orrock. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

The state previously barred gender affirming care for minors, but Tillery said the bill is necessary because a loophole could allow parents to obtain banned treatments for their minor children by using the state plan.

“While the General Assembly has spoken and spoken clearly and said loudly we do not think that these surgeries should occur in our state, there’s a back door that’s happened here,” he said. “The back door that’s happened is, through settlements, court decisions and otherwise, we are paying for those surgeries, and we are allowing those surgeries on minors, and we’re not just allowing those surgeries on Georgia minors, we’re paying for those surgeries on Georgia minors. Transgender surgeries on Georgia minors, paid for with Georgia taxpayer dollars, but since we banned them in Georgia, guess where we pay for them at? Out of state.”

Tillery said he does not know how many times a minor Georgian may have gotten gender-affirming care out of state. Experts say surgeries are rarely even discussed as an option for minors, and standard care for a minor would be more likely to include therapy, social transitioning and hormone replacement.

Tillery was referring to Rich v. Georgia, a 2023 case where a group of state workers who were denied gender-affirming care sued the state. The state agreed to a $365,000 court settlement with three employees.

Senate Democrats argued that seeking to skirt the terms of that settlement would open the state up to new lawsuits.

“Our own attorney general made the call to settle Rich v. Georgia, because under his expert opinion, he knew that this would be a fight that the state could not win,” said Sen. Nikki Merritt, a Grayson Democrat.

Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson proposed an amendment to Tillery’s transgender bill that she said would clarify that mental health treatments would not be barred for transgender people on the state health plan, but senators voted it down after Tillery said his bill would not ban such treatments. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones said the bill could likely also violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, citing two Georgia cases. In Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme court held that an employer who fires a worker simply for being gay or transgender is in violation of the law. In Lange v. Houston County, a district court ruled that a health insurance provider can be held liable under Title VII for denying coverage for gender-affirming care to a transgender employee because he or she is transgender. Houston County has appealed that decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the case is still ongoing.

“To me, the law is clearly illegal, quite frankly,” Jones said. “There’s no hope for the law to withstand any kind of constitutional challenge or Title VII challenge, especially when the law is clear – in our circuit. The 11th Circuit has addressed this issue. That Houston County case was a 2024 case, so it just actually did happen.”

LGBTQ advocates also worry that unlike previous bills that targeted transgender minors through medical or sports participation bans, this bill would also affect adults’ medical decisions.

Republican Sen. Matt Brass proposed an amendment to Tillery’s transgender ban that would have forbade state contracts with any party that included transgender issues as part of the contract. Brass withdrew his amendment so as to not dilute the underlying bill. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“The proponents of SB39 have been dishonest and misleading by characterizing the bill as a measure that would primarily ban state coverage of gender affirming care for minors, while finally today, the sponsor of the bill admitted that he simply doesn’t want Georgia to provide best practice medical care for transgender adults,” said Human Rights Campaign Georgia State Director Bentley Hudgins.

“SB39 is a cruel health care ban that is unconstitutional, discriminatory and poses a real threat to medical freedom for all Georgians,” they added. “The government has no business stripping away medically necessary care from anyone, including transgender youth or adults. Once we concede that the government has this power, all of our care is at risk.”

How to treat transgender Georgians under the law remains a hot button issue this year, and, fresh off a convincing victory for President Donald Trump, GOP lawmakers may perceive that pressing the issue could help them with their base.

The Senate has already passed a ban on transgender girls playing on girls’ sports teams, and the House is set to put forward its own version. Lawmakers could also consider bills to ban puberty-blocking medications for transgender minors.

Sen. Colton Moore. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

Trenton Republican Sen. Colton Moore, whose far-right positions and unconventional tactics have put him at odds with fellow Republicans, called the health care bill the “most effective and the most beneficial piece of legislation we have passed thus far in this body.”

“My friends on the Democratic side, they always like to talk about reproductive rights,”Moore said. “But we’re denying people reproduction for eternity if we trans their gender. That’s the basic foundation of a society is the family block. I believe taxpayer dollars ought to be used to promote a society, to grow a sovereignty, not to destroy it by using that money for transgender surgeries.”

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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

The post Georgia Senate OKs bill to ban state workers from gender affirming care under state health plan • Georgia Recorder appeared first on georgiarecorder.com

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Rare level 4 risk for severe weather in north Georgia Saturday night | What to know

Published

14 hours ago

March 15, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 11Alive – 2025-03-15 07:39:06

SUMMARY: North Georgia is facing a rare level 4 risk for severe weather, including strong storms, high winds, and possible tornadoes tonight. The weather impact alert is in effect from Saturday evening through early Sunday morning. Storms will reach the region by midnight and continue until sunrise. It’s crucial to have access to weather alerts and know your safe place. Some counties are offering transportation to severe weather centers, while emergency preparedness teams recommend seeking shelter in basements or indoor stairwells. Stay informed with continuous updates on 11 Alive Plus, which will stream coverage throughout the night.

Level 5 extends through Mississippi and Alabama.

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News from the South - Georgia News Feed

Gold Dome Nuggets: DOGE walking, light side of pink, I got it, you take it

Published

18 hours ago

March 15, 2025

Staff Editor

georgiarecorder.com – Ross Williams, Jill Nolin, Stanley Dunlap – 2025-03-15 04:00:00

Gold Dome Nuggets: DOGE walking, light side of pink, I got it, you take it

by Ross Williams, Jill Nolin and Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder
March 15, 2025

If a dominatrix went hunting in a Georgia forest, would she wear pink? And who would carry the bill in the Senate?

Belly up to the buffet table, folks. It’s time for another course of Gold Dome Nuggets, post-Crossover Day edition.

Walking the DOGE

Jessica Blinkhorn “Walking the DOGE” at the Georgia Capitol. Photo by David Clifton-Strawn

If you follow Georgia politics on social media, you may have seen video of an unusual protest at the Capitol Thursday afternoon: a woman dressed in black stockings, high-heel combat boots and a studded silver face mask, in a wheelchair, “walking” leashed actors wearing Donald Trump and Elon Musk masks.

The Recorder caught up with the woman behind the act of protest, Georgia State University art instructor Jessica Blinkhorn on Friday afternoon, when she said video of the performance, titled “Walking the DOGE,” had already topped a million views and been shared tens of thousands of times across various platforms.

Blinkhorn said much of the reaction was supportive and some was less than kind, but she said she’s not bothered by negative comments.

“When you grow up a chubby, gappy-toothed disabled girl in a lower middle class family, people come after you a lot,” she said. “Some to your face and some behind your back. I have more respect for the people that do it to my face, but I have a thick skin because of that, and on top of that, I’m an artist, so I’m born to take constructive criticism, and I learned to acknowledge and absorb and accept the truths that I get from people versus discard the toxic imposed narratives that people throw at my work.”

Blinkhorn has spinal muscular atrophy type 2, a genetic condition which gradually depletes the body of voluntary and involuntary muscles. Her late brother and sister had the same condition. It has changed the way she makes art – Blinkhorn said she is trained in drawing and painting, but took up performance art as a way to continue creating.

Jessica Blinkhorn. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

She also uses her art to advocate for people with disabilities. She said “Walking the DOGE” grew out of an earlier piece, “Taking a B-tch for a walk,” which featured Trump but not Musk. That performance got her kicked out of the prestigious Art Basel in Miami and the cops called on her last year.

“I think the real reason that people kicked me off property at Basel is people were coming out of Basel to photograph me. I was also topless because – when in Rome – it was South Beach,” she said with a laugh.

The idea came from apprehension of what Trump’s second term could mean for people with disabilities, LGBTQ people and other vulnerable groups.

“The piece ‘Taking a B-tch for a Walk’ was very much reactionary political activism that was based off of fear and passion for putting him in his place and making him feel just as vulnerable in a submissive position as I am in my life every day and usurping that role as the dominant force,” she said.

Jessica Blinkhorn “Walking the DOGE” at the Georgia Capitol. Photo by David Clifton-Strawn

Blinkhorn said she staged Thursday’s performance for the 35th anniversary of the Capitol Crawl, a pivotal disabilities rights event in which people with disabilities crawled the steps of the U.S. Capitol to highlight the barriers faced by people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices. That protest and other acts of advocacy are credited with helping spur the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act a few months later.

Blinkhorn said she hopes to one day take the show on the road – she’d love to perform outside the U.S. Capitol – and to continue to grow her pack of leashed political figures.

“Me and a co-conspirator tossed around the idea of Marjorie Taylor Greene being leashed to the back of my chair – not made to walk on her hands and knees, because no woman should ever bow to a man – but definitely leashed,” she said.

To people upset that they missed Thursday’s performance, Blinkhorn said she has no intention of stopping as long as she can keep going.

“I’ve watched both my siblings die from that disability. I’ve watched multiple friends die from that disability,” she said. “Since I was young – eight years old, I lost my first friend – I’ve always been told, ‘You’re going to get weaker, you’re going to die, you have a looming death date,’ so every f—–g moment counts. I know, more than a lot of people, that every f—–g moment counts. If you die in battle, at least you f—–g die fighting for something. You made it f—–g count.”

Pink Hunting Gear, Part II

Reps. Jan Jones, Katie Dempsey, Leesa Hagan. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

Wabbit season, duck season — silly season? That’s what came to the Georgia Senate Thursday during a debate on a bill allowing pink hunting gear for Georgia hunters.

The bill, sponsored by Lyons Republican Rep. Leesa Hagan, would allow hunters the option to wear fluorescent pink in addition to high visibility orange. Supporters say it will encourage more women to get into hunting and increase hunting license sales.

The bill was the brainchild of a Georgia student named Carly who enjoys hunting and the color pink and wrote to her legislator asking for the bill as part of a school project last year.

Democrats used the opportunity raised by the floor debate to talk about issues they’d rather focus on after Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent gave a speech in support of the bill.

“So while we’re talking about choices for hunters, I’m curious, in your opinion, would you agree that it would be important to make sure that women have choices when it comes to their reproductive rights?” asked Stone Mountain Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson.

Elena Parent. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“I do agree with that, and you know, again, it is Women’s History Month,” Parent said. “I am so glad to see this body moving forward, not just on safety, but in the recognition that there are many women who are hunters, right? And you know, we need to make progress on some of these other issues that also matter to women.”

Sandy Springs Democratic Sen. Josh McLaurin used the opportunity to talk about DEI bans.

“I certainly appreciate your passionate presentation, but are you aware that you said the word inclusion a lot during your speech?” he asked. “Are you aware that word has been banned?”

McLaurin joked that Parent might be at risk of losing federal funding.

“I am glad I’m a citizen and not a green card holder,” Parent said. “Because we are worried. I’m not worried about my free speech rights right now. Yes, I might be able to be attacked on my wallet, but I still can stand here in this well, and I am honored and privileged to be a senator and be able to speak on behalf of my constituents, and I do think that that’s what our citizens should be able to do under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Parent was referencing Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with student protests at Columbia University in opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza.

Sen. Randy Robertson. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

After that exchange, Savannah Democratic Sen. Derek Mallow made a non-serious amendment that would have also allowed lime green as a color that hunters could wear. Mallow said it was in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Savannah is home to one of the country’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

That was a bridge too far for Cataula Republican Sen. Randy Robertson, who demanded an immediate end to the japery.

“This is about gun safety,” he said. “This is about a young lady who wanted to be a part of the political process, and this is about a young lady who looked up to another lady who served in the House of Representatives for the state of Georgia, and this is important to that young lady, and if it makes sense to us, then let’s stop with the silly amendments, let’s stop with the silly comments and give that young lady who loves to hunt her opportunity to see legislation work in a positive way so that she can have stuff to brag about about something that she’s done and hopefully make her a stronger woman.”

The bill passed unanimously after Dallas Republican Sen. Jason Anavitarte moved to finish debate.

“I move to call the question to end this mockery to female outdoorsmen,” he said.

It’s not uncommon for senators from both parties to joke around during floor debates. In fact, Majority Leader Steve Gooch made a lighthearted reference to the menstrual cycle earlier in the debate on the same bill.

“Senator, can you tell me what the letters PMS mean to you?” he asked a pink shirt-clad Sen. Drew Echols, the Gainesville Republican carrying the bill in the Senate.

“I can,” Echols answered. “Premenstrual Syndrome.”

“No sir. PMS is called Pantone Matching System,” Gooch said. “It is a color wheel that’s used to match colors for printing materials. So senator, I’m not sure where your mind is this morning, but it’s clearly not on your bill today.”

Whose Bill is it Anyway?

Sen. Rick Williams. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

A bill now making its way through the Senate proposes to no longer have magistrate court judges elected as partisan candidates in elections.

This week the Georgia Senate Ethics Committee approved House Bill 426, which would exempt probate court judges from competing in partisan elections. It’s a legislative priority of the state’s councils for magistrate judges and the judiciary, whose supporters argue it would further boost public confidence by adding a layer of impartiality in the judicial system.

After the March 6 Crossover Day deadline, legislators in both chambers begin the process of taking up measures passed by the opposite chamber leading up to the session’s April 4 finale.

A bill’s original sponsor will select a legislator from the other chamber to “carry” the bill across the finish line. And sometimes, the hand-off is less than smooth.

On Wednesday, Ethics Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Rick Williams was surprised to be in charge of presenting the bill to the Senate.

“I think (Minority Leader Steve) Gooch is going to be carrying it in the Senate, is that correct?” Williams said to Villa Rica Republican Rep. Kimberly New, who is sponsoring the bill.

“You are,” she responded as laughter erupted in the meeting room.

Williams, a Milledgeville Republican, said he must’ve misread a text message.

“Let me say this, one of us will carry it,” he said.

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The post Gold Dome Nuggets: DOGE walking, light side of pink, I got it, you take it appeared first on georgiarecorder.com

News from the South - Georgia News Feed

Desjavae Conway accused of several crimes

Published

23 hours ago

March 14, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – FOX 5 Atlanta – 2025-03-14 22:33:50

SUMMARY: Desjavae Conway is in custody in Troup County after allegedly abandoning her two young children in Heard County. She left them in a parking lot, telling them to hide in the woods. A passerby spotted the six-year-old girl alone and called 911. Later, Conway reportedly broke into a home in Troup County, stabbed two women multiple times, and set a building on fire before fleeing in the victims’ vehicle. Authorities found her van at the crime scene and arrested her. Conway’s children were taken into protective custody, and the motive for the attack remains unclear.

Desjavae Conway is behind bars in Troup County after authorities say she abandoned her two young children in Heard County before breaking into a home, stabbing two women, and setting a building on fire. Deidra Dukes reporting.

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