GOP lawmakers propose removing LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes law to promote women’s rights

An anti-LGBTQ+ bill filed last week in Georgia – which claims to be a “Women’s Bill of Rights” – would remove sexual orientation and gender identity as categories from the state’s hate crimes law.

Despite its name – the “Georgia Women’s Bill of Rights” – H.B. 1128 is just an attack on LGBTQ+ people’s rights, with a focus on trans people. It replaces the word “gender” with the word “sex” in several state laws and defines sex as genitalia at birth. The bill defines “female” as someone with a “reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization” and male as someone with a “reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes sperm for fertilization.”

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Several sections of the bill would rewrite portions of Georgia’s hate crimes law to eliminate the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender” from the list of protected categories. That is, if this bill passes, if someone commits a hate crime to attack the victim’s LGBTQ+ identity, that will no longer be considered a hate crime in Georgia.

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H.B. 1128 was introduced by state Reps. Jodi Lott (R), Leesa Hagan (R), Penny Houston (R), Bethany Ballard (R), and Kimberly New (R).

The bill’s text was flagged by X user Allison Chapman.

“This is a super comprehensive bill stripping rights away from trans and queer people,” she wrote. “This does absolutely NOTHING for women.”

Georgia’s hate crimes law was passed in 2020 and allowed increased sentencing for crimes committed because of the victims’ race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability, and physical disability.