Thread by @therecount

Nebraska State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D), who paused her 3-week filibuster to debate anti-trans legislation, addresses her GOP colleagues:

“You are caring, kind, and compassionate people who are here to do public service… Pay attention to this conversation. Open your hearts.”

Nebraska State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) made a deal Thursday with Republican colleagues to pause her three-week filibuster and resume debate on a bill that would outlaw gender-affirming care for minors.

Learn more about Cavanaugh’s fight: bit.ly/NEFilibuster

“If this bill advances, the filibuster will resume. I will join it with my whole heart, with my whole chest. And every bill will be going to cloture.”

— Nebraska State Sen. Megan Hunt (D), during debate on the state’s anti-trans bill, threatens to bring the legislature to a halt

Nebraska State Sen. John Fredrickson (D), the first openly gay man elected to the state legislature, calls anti-trans bill a “recycled playbook”:

“A lot of these things were said in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s about gay people ... ‘It’s just a phase.’ ... It’s a bit dehumanizing.”

Nebraska State Sen. Mike Moser (R), debating the state’s anti-trans bill, argues teens shouldn’t be allowed access to gender-affirming care because "13-year-olds can't be responsible for murder because their brains aren't sufficiently formed."

“By the way, my first babysitter... was a hermaphrodite, so I learned from a very early age that people’s biology can be very different than male or female.”

— Nebraska State Sen. Carol Blood (D) critiques the state's proposed anti-trans bill for excluding some gender identities

“The only compromise with bills like this is to just leave people alone … Pull the bill … That’s the compromise: leave people alone.”

— Nebraska State Sen. Jen Day (D) responds to Republican colleagues seeking “compromise” on an anti-trans bill stalled in the state legislature

There’s a whole lot of talk about God during this debate about Nebraska’s anti-trans bill.

State Sen. Steve Erdman (R): “For the life of me, I can’t imagine why we want to mess with something that God created. He made us male and female.”

Nebraska State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) vows to block amendments on anti-trans bill and dares Republicans to vote on it in its “purest, evil form”:

“I tried to get the committee to change this bill ... So now you want to compromise, to assuage your guilt? No thank you.”

#NEleg voted to adjourn until Wednesday.

After back-and-forth, the GOP majority voted to end debate on Sen. Megan Hunt’s (D) motion to postpone the bill. A vote to advance the bill is imminent, but it needs 3 rounds of votes to reach the governor’s desk. ketv.com/article/nebras…