Democrat Lawmaker Pushes Back On His Party After Outrage Over Bill Banning Trans Treatments For Minors

South Carolina state Rep. Cezar McKnight (D-101) pushed back on far-left activists and his own party on Sunday after backlash over a bill he introduced banning minors from obtaining transgender reassignment surgery and treatments.

The bill, called the “South Carolina Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” would ban minors from receiving treatments to delay puberty and any medical professional who violates the law would be charged with a felony and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

After he introduced the bill earlier this month, McKnight was attacked online by far-left activists and even by his own party, the South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP), who accused McKnight of “bigotry” for wanting to protect children. The bill was “ill-founded, unscientific, and apt to result in death and other negative outcomes for transgender citizens of all ages, and the South Carolina Democratic Party thus condemns this outrageous bill – and its Democratic supporters – in the strongest possible terms,” the SCDP said in a resolution condemning McKnight. “Bigotry will find no quarter among South Carolina Democrats, and those who embrace bigotry of any kind will face broad opposition and our most vigorous condemnation.”

McKnight pushed back on the attacks, saying he has been stunned by the level of support that it has received. “Thanks so much for the love & support I have received regarding H4047,” McKnight wrote on Twitter. “At first I felt besieged and alone, I now see that people of all races, religions, politics and sexual orientations believe in protecting children at all cost. I WILL NOT BE BULLIED!”

Thanks so much for the love & support I have received regarding H4047. At first I felt besieged and alone, I now see that people of all races, religions, politics and sexual orientations believe in protecting children at all cost. I WILL NOT BE BULLIED! #H4047 #unboughtunbossed

— Cezar E. McKnight (@cezarmcknight) March 21, 2021

“Black Democrats tend to be more conservative than white progressives,” McKnight told Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard. “I would not have ever put this bill forward if I didn’t think the people in my district wouldn’t be receptive, and they are. Pastors, young parents, older parents, they all tell me the same thing: if you want to do this, wait until you’re 18.”

“This bill isn’t anti-trans,” McKnight said. “I just don’t think to make a sex change during the teen years is something someone should do.”

McKnight’s bill states in part:

…no person shall engage in, counsel, make a referral for, or cause any of the following practices to be performed upon a minor if the practice is performed for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of or affirm the minor’s perception of the minor’s gender or sex, if that perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex as defined in this chapter:

(1)    prescribing, dispensing, administering, or otherwise supplying puberty-blocking medication to stop or delay normal puberty;

(2)    prescribing, dispensing, administering, or otherwise supplying supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or other androgens to females;

(3)    prescribing, dispensing, administering, or otherwise supplying supraphysiologic doses of estrogen to males;

(4)    performing surgeries that sterilize, including castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, and penectomy;

(5)    performing surgeries that artificially construct tissue with the appearance of genitalia that differs from the individual’s sex, including metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty; or

(6)    removing any healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.

Recent polling from a left-leaning publication found that there is “broad support” for similar measures that aim to protect girls from having to compete against biological males in sports.

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