Listen to Viral Clip of Gay Ala. Rep. Speak Against Anti-Trans Bills
criminalizes gender-affirming care for minors.“I don’t know how this became a platform issue for y’all,” said Rafferty, a gay man and a Democrat. “I don’t know where it became a central core issue to pick on these kids, to pick on these families.
I don’t know where it is or why y’all think that this is something that we need to vote on, not just vote on, but put [on] the top of the calendar like it’s a priority.”“It’s a priority for us to be getting involved in private family medical decisions that are made with a team of health care providers, that are made with the parents centering around the child who are surrounded by a team of health care providers, mental health professionals who are guiding them through this process?” he continued. “You want to think you’re just going to a doc-in-a-box or willy-nilly, just getting prescribed this stuff because somebody just said, ‘Hey, this is it.’”“That’s not how being gay, that’s not how being transgender works,” he explained. “Trust me, if I didn’t have to be gay, I wouldn’t be.
You know how much easier my freaking life would be?” The health care bill is “invasive,” he said, not an example of the small government that conservatives claim to support.“It’s hard enough growing up. … It’s even harder growing up being different,” he went on. “And then have a state legislature, your elected officials, the leaders of the state, put a target on children’s backs, put a target on the parents’ backs, and once again get in the middle of their decisions and say, ‘You don’t know what’s best.’”He acknowledged that his were going to go ahead and advance the legislation, but he concluded, “Just don’t you dare call me a friend after this.” Legislators gave final approval Thursday to the health.
