On Wednesday, Georgia’s State Capitol was the stage for a “heated debate” over legislation aimed at sparing taxpayers from funding gender transition procedures for inmates—including “sex change surgeries, hormone replacement therapies, and cosmetic procedures designed to alter sexual characteristics.” While the measure garnered strong support from Republicans, Democrats voiced their displeasure with the bill and the financial protections it offers.
Senate Bill 185 passed Georgia’s House by a 100-2 margin, with the only dissenting votes coming from Democrat lawmakers Regina Lewis-Ward and David Sampson. The rest of the party’s representatives chose a different tactic, staging a dramatic walkout from the chamber in protest. And yet, their exodus did little to disrupt the bill’s momentum. It awaits only the signature of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to become law.
Prior to the walkout, state Rep. Tanya Miller, a Democrat, expressed her opposition to the legislation. “Our constituents sent us here to address serious pressing issues affecting their daily lives,” she said. “Yet, instead of addressing real problems, my colleagues in the majority party continue their extreme agenda.” But according to Georgia Republicans, it is worth addressing.
Immediately after the Democrats’ walkout, Republicans criticized their protest. According to the Daily Caller, “Republican Rep. Trey Kelley denounced their exit and said that leaving the chamber instead of advocating for fiscal responsibility was disgraceful.” Additionally, “Republican House Majority Whip James Burchett said that elections have outcomes and added that Georgia taxpayers deem this issue significant and oppose funding elective surgeries.”
In fact, this focus on taxpayer priorities reflects a broader Republican agenda in Georgia, exemplified by another recent legislative push. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed the General Assembly earlier this year. While SB 185 prioritizes fiscal balance, RFRA focuses on constitutional balance—specifically when it comes to religious freedom, as it was modeled after a federal law to protect that right.
Just a week before RFRA’s passage, Family Research Council Action Operations Coordinator Jacob Kersey wrote of why Georgia’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act “is necessary to protect people of faith.” Kersey, a Georgia native, has experienced government overreach firsthand when he was effectively fired from his former employment as a police officer in Port Wentworth. The reason? His posting of a Bible verse on his personal social media that some of his team found offensive.
“My supervisors ordered me to remove my post,” Kersey wrote, “saying it was the ‘same thing as saying the N-word.’ I disagreed and declined to do so, expressing my concerns that my religious freedom was being infringed.” After being “given an ultimatum, resign now or be fired the next time someone finds my Christian beliefs offensive, I made the difficult decision to resign.”
He wasn’t alone. “I’m not the only Georgia public servant who faced similar fallout due to religious speech,” Kersey noted, citing cases like that of Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, fired in 2015 for faith-based writings. “At the end of the day,” he added, “the passage of the Georgia RFRA isn’t about Chief Cochran or me; it’s about the right of all Georgians to enjoy their God-given First Amendment right to religious expression.” And in a comment to The Washington Stand, Kersey further explained the parallels between RFRA and SB 185 in terms of the roles they play in the lives of Georgians.
“What we have seen this legislative session in Georgia is Democrats refusing to abandon transgender ideology, one of the main reasons they lost in 2024,” he told TWS. “Protecting Georgian taxpayers from being forced to pay for ‘gender transition’ procedures for inmates is commonsense and good policy.” And when it comes to the Democrats walking out of the chamber on Wednesday, Kersey noted that was just one of many examples of Democrats opposing good policy.
“Georgia Democrats voted against keeping men out of women’s sports, against increasing protections for all Georgians of faith, and against protecting taxpayers from being forced to pay for ‘gender transition’ procedures for inmates,” he stated. “The fact that Georgia Democrats staged a walkout instead of voting on SB 185 is because they know they are between a rock and a hard place: Their base that supports pro-transgender policies, and the overwhelming number of voters in Georgia who do not.” According to Kersey, the reality is that “they are afraid to go on the record for SB 185, but they are scared to oppose their base. In other words, they can’t have it both ways—it’s a lose-lose.”
Kersey explained that he had helped organize grassroots support by making calls to mobilize “our grassroots lists [in Georgia] to contact their representatives and urge them to support Georgia’s RFRA (SB36)”—and they did just that. “We are grateful to God and the Georgia Legislature that this important bill was passed. I’m personally grateful to see the successful passage of GA’s [Georgia’s] RFRA and to be a part of the FRC Action team which remains committed to standing for religious freedom in public policy and culture in Washington, D.C. and across the nation.”
And now, as SB 185 supporters across Georgia hold their breath, only Kemp’s pen stands between them and the protection of their hard-earned tax dollars.
