Berkeley professor Khiara Bridges says the Missouri senator’s line of questioning “opens trans people up to violence.”
At a hearing on the consequences of the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that guaranteed the right to abortion, on Tuesday, a law professor accused Hawley of being transphobic by a law professor.
During the judiciary committee hearing, Hawley, who has previously co-sponsored a bill which would prevent transgender children from competing in sports, questioned Khiara Bridges, a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law who was invited to testify on reproductive rights.
During a Senate Judiciary hearing, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s line of inquiry was labeled “transphobic.”
According to Berkeley professor Khiara Bridges, the Missouri senator’s method of inquiry “exposes trans people to violence.”
A legal professor accused Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, of being transphobic at a hearing on the consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the verdict that established the right to abortion.
During the judiciary committee hearing, Hawley questioned Khiara Bridges, a UC Berkeley School of Law professor who was asked to talk about reproductive rights. Hawley had previously co-sponsored a bill that said transgender youth couldn’t play sports.
When describing those who can give birth, Bridges regularly used the phrase “humans with a capacity for pregnancy.”
During the judiciary committee hearing, Hawley questioned Khiara Bridges, a UC Berkeley School of Law professor who was asked to talk about reproductive rights. Hawley had previously co-sponsored a bill that said transgender youth couldn’t play sports.
“You’ve referred to ‘people with a capacity for pregnancy’,” he said. “Would that be women?”
Bridges replied, “Many women, especially cis women, have the capacity for pregnancy.” Many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. There are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy, as well as non-binary people who are capable of pregnancy. ”
Republicans and other organizations in the United States and elsewhere have regularly pushed to limit transgender people’s rights.
Over the last year, there has been an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in several parts of the United States.
Hawley said, “So this isn’t really a women’s rights issue. It’s… it’s what? ”
Bridges said: “We can recognize that this impacts women while also recognising that it impacts other groups. Those things are not mutually exclusive, Senator Hawley.”
She added: “I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them.”
Hawley said, “You’re saying that I’m opening people to violence by asking whether or not women are the only ones who can have pregnancies?”
Bridges said: “I want to note that one out of five transgender people has attempted suicide. “Denying that trans people exist and pretending not to know that they exist is dangerous.
Bridges then questioned Hawley after listing data concerning the high rate of suicide among transgender people.
“Do you believe that men can get pregnant?” Bridges asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Hawley said.
“So you are denying trans people exist,” Bridges responded.
She then invited him to her class, claiming that he would “learn a lot.”
Hawley stated in an apparent sarcastic tone that he would learn a lot because he had learnt a lot throughout their conversation.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 320 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced this year in the United States.
If the Supreme Court reconsiders legislation that protects the right to same-sex marriage and partnerships, LGBTQ+ rights may be imperiled.
Conservative judge Clarence Thomas has encouraged the court to do so.
Even though polls show that most Americans are against anti-transgender legislation, Republicans keep pushing for it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, generally seen as a potential presidential contender in 2024, issued a divisive “don’t say gay” regulation in March, prohibiting teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools. In June, DeSantis suggested a ban on transition care for transgender kids.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked state agencies earlier this year to examine gender-affirming care for transgender youngsters as child abuse.
Other politicians and members of the right-wing media have spread myths and misinformation about homosexual and transgender people who want to groom students.