ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Democratic representatives staged a walkout Wednesday before the GOP-controlled state House approved a bill prohibiting the use of state funds to provide transgender medical care to inmates.

Senate Bill 185 was approved on the House floor by a 100-2 vote, with every Democratic representative abstaining from the vote after walking out of the chamber.

“Any elected official walking out on a vote, whether it’s something you support or something you don’t support, is shortchanging the citizens and the voters who send us up here to do the job of representing them,” said state Rep. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, the bill’s sponsor.

“Whether we agree with it or not, turning our backs and walking out is never the right thing to do,” Robertson, who spent 30 years in law enforcement, including as a corrections officer - said. “We’re not here to attack anybody. We’re here to establish policy; we’re here to establish law.”

“We came here to focus on the opportunity for Georgians to live, learn and earn,” said state Rep. Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus. “And what do we get? Political theatre. Bills that want to legalize discrimination. A whole lot of nothing.

“People sent us here to do great work,” Hugley said. “They did not send us here to bully people, to ostracize people or to discriminate against people.”

The Georgia General Assembly is set to adjourn Friday, April 4, 2025.

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