State Senate Republicans severely limited testimony Monday on a bill that would ban transgender girls and women from competing on sex segregated sports teams.
Last week, the Senate State Affairs Committee took about 90 minutes of testimony, with Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge (R-Huston) saying they’d continue the hearing at a later date. There was still a long list of people left to testify, and Monday morning, Lodge pushed back against allowing more comment, asking Democrats how many days they wanted the hearing to go.
Lodge has done this before. Last year during a packed committee hearing on a bill that would’ve made Idaho’s ballot initiative laws one of the most restrictive in the country, she tried to cut off testimony after 45 minutes, saying everyone else who had signed up was in opposition.
On Monday, she eventually let five people speak for one minute each – all of them against the bill. The committee then voted along party lines to amend the proposal on the Senate floor.
There was audible laughter from the audience after Lodge said lawmakers had heard their testimony.
“Excuse me. Your testimony was heard and that’s why the amendments will be presented,” she responded.
Those amendments are targeting part of the bill that would require a student to undergo a pelvic exam if they’re accused of being transgender – something the state attorney general’s office said may be an invasion of privacy.
“We are not advocating for intrusive or embarrassing physical exams or onerous requirements,” said one of the sponsors, Sen. Mary Souza (R-Coeur d’Alene).
It’s unclear exactly what these proposed amendments would change. As it’s currently written, a student athlete would “establish” their sex through a signed physician’s statement that would be “based solely on the student’s internal and external reproductive anatomy; The student's normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; An analysis of the student's genetic makeup.”
Earlier in the hearing, Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D-Ketchum) unsuccessfully tried to kill the proposal, which failed along a party line vote.
“There’s just so many trap doors in this to put kids through unnecessary lifetime trauma and I don’t see any reason to do this except a heavy-handed government over a system that’s already working,” Stennett said.
The bill now goes before the Senate for potential amendments, which could happen as early as Tuesday.
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