by A Texas doctor and Republican anti-trans activist has been removed from a state Senate hearing after repeatedly falsely accusing trans people and their healthcare providers of being pedophiles, but it was his use of the word “Bull****”, which seemed to be the last straw.
Houston-area physician Steven Hotze testified before a Senate state committee on March 16 to support several bills targeting LGBT+ people and joined a wave of state-level legislation across the US to improve gender-affirming care to criminalize.
Democratic State Senator Jose Menendez resisted the doctor’s inflammatory rhetoric, but he went on to baselessly slander trans people and their providers: “By definition, they are pedophiles.”
“I just want to ask you to refrain from calling people pedophiles. I don’t think the doctors who came before us are pedophiles,” Mr. Menendez said. “I don’t think it’s improper to call people you don’t know pedophiles… I have trans friends, I have trans employees, I have trans members of our community… It’s hurtful to them.”
Mr Menendez said trans people “live their true selves,” to which Mr Hotze replied, “That’s bullshit,” prompting lawmakers to kick him out of the committee.
dr Cody Pyke, who testified before the committee, clarified that Mr Hotze was only deported for his use of profanity and not his transphobic slurs.
Republican committee chairman Bryan Hughes “doesn’t seem to have a problem with transphobia, just profanity,” said Dr. pyke
Obscenities are forbidden in the state legislature. After the doctor said “Bull****,” State Senator Hughes said, “Dr. Hotze, we don’t use that kind of language. You’re excused.”
In her testimony, Dr. Pyke the suicide risks and threats of violence that young trans people are exposed to.
“Since I switched myself, I’ve faced physical and verbal attacks from complete strangers on the street,” they said. “It’s not a fad; it is not a social contagion. It is a real identity and we deserve your protection, not your hatred.”
dr Hotze has repeatedly slandered LGBT+ people in the state; In 2016, he likened gay people to “termites” that are “eating away at the moral foundation of our country,” so The Houston Chronicle.
dr Hotze is also behind a lawsuit to prevent employer-provided health insurance from covering the HIV-prevention drug PrEP. Last year he was charged with aggravated assault in connection with an investigation into allegations of voter fraud in which a private investigator swung a gun at an innocent air-conditioning repairman.
Among other measures targeting LGBT+ Texans, the state Senate committee on Thursday also pushed ahead with legislation banning trans women from competing on collegiate athletic teams that match their gender.
State legislators in the US introduced more than 400 bills this year that the Human Rights Campaign identified as harmful to LGBT+ Americans. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 175 measures would specifically limit the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year.
Dozens of bills are aimed at banning transgender youth from accessing medically assisted gender-affirming health care, and lawmakers introduced more so-called “bathroom bills” this year than any other year.
According to a recent survey by The Trevor Project and Morning Consult, the onslaught of legislation and the volatile political debate surrounding the bills have negatively impacted the mental health of an overwhelming majority of young transgender and non-binary people.
A separate poll by The Trevor Project found that 45 percent of transgender and non-binary youth have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
