Georgia Senate bill would cut funding for adult gender-affirming care, but it may have cloudy future

Georgia’s state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would cut off public funding for gender-affirming care for adults, but the future of the legislation remains cloudy in the state House, one illustration of how the Republican-controlled swing state has been slow to join the blizzard of laws targeting transgender people.

Senators voted 33-19 to pass Senate Bill 39, which would bar state money for gender-affirming care in state employee and university health insurance plans, Medicaid and the prison system.

The measure was pushed by state Sen. Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican, who repeatedly characterized the bill as only affecting gender-affirming surgeries for minors until he acknowledged under questioning from Democrats that it actually covers a broad range of care for adults as well.