A Republican state lawmaker in Alabama has been accused of liking a transgender adult performer’s tweet, just a week after voting in favor of a bill to make it a felony for transgender youth under age 19 to receive gender-affirming health care.
Alabama State Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) allegedly liked an explicit tweet by a Philadelphia-based performer known as “Bambi Blonde” or “Baphomet Barbie,” with the Twitter handle @bblgumbaphomet, whose profile name is listed as “Bambi Hardcore TG 18+,” and describes themself as an “enbi [nonbinary] trans girl faerie princess.” Their Twitter feed includes a host of short “teaser” videos showing transgender women engaged in sexual acts.
According to LGBTQ Nation, Bambi posted a nude picture of their chest with the caption: “Love my new, fat, G-cup tiddies.”
Whatley’s official Twitter account showed up in the list of Twitter users who had “liked” the post, according to a screenshot obtained by the LGBTQ website.
Bambi later tweeted another photo with a caption, in apparent reference to the controversy, reading: “US Senator (sic) approved tiddies and dick.”
LGBTQ Nation claims it asked Whatley why he liked the tweet. He did not respond, but un-liked the tweet in question.
The fact that Whatley — or someone operating his work Twitter account — was allegedly looking at an explicit adult-themed Twitter page on government time may raise some eyebrows in the state, especially since Whatley was one of 23 Republican lawmakers to vote for SB 10, the Senate version of a bill to bar trans youth from receiving gender-affirming care.
The bill would make it a felony — punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine — for doctors to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones, or recommend gender confirmation surgery (which, in practice, rarely occurs before a person is 18 and considered a legal adult), one any person under age 19.
The Senate bill has since been sent to the House of Representatives, which passed HB 1, its own version of the ban on transition-related care. If the House approves the Senate bill, or the bill goes to conference and gets approved by each chamber, it would then head to Gov. Kay Ivey (R) for her signature into law.
If signed into law, Alabama would become the first state in recent years to explicitly ban access to transgender health care such as puberty blockers, and the only state to ban legal adults (18-year-olds are considered adults, capable of voting, serving in the military, and making other legal decisions, under American law) from accessing medical treatments, even if hormones or surgery are recommended to treat their gender dysphoria.
The bill also contains provisions that would force school officials to “out” transgender students to their parents if a teacher or administrator believes a student is struggling with their gender identity or objects to a student’s failure to conform to gender norms or behaves contrary to traditional gender-based stereotypes.
The Senate version also prevents therapists from providing “talk therapy” to discuss a youth’s feelings of gender dysphoria, while the House version seeks to create an exemption for therapists.
“We don’t want [therapists] affirming that ‘Hey, yeah, you’re right, you should be a boy if you are a born a female,'” Sen. Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville), the lead sponsor of the bill, said during debate.
Whatley was the senator who had offered an amendment, similar to provisions in the House bill, to exempt counselors from being prosecuted under the law, but when that amendment was defeated, he voted in favor of the bill.
Even though the Senate and House bills condemn puberty blockers as “dangerous and uncontrolled medical experimentation” that can cause “irreversible consequences,” one study from last year showed that transgender youth who receive the drugs — which delay the onset of puberty until a person can determine whether they wish to undergo a gender transition — are at reduced risk of suicidal ideation compared to youth that do not receive puberty blockers.
U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first openly transgender person ever elected to Congress, has reportedly cautioned Democrats about the need to foster conversations when it comes to engaging with those who have reservations about certain issues like transgender participation in sports.
"We have to create more space in our tent," McBride told NOTUS about how Democrats should approach people with reservations or genuine questions about transgender inclusion. "If, for instance, we want to have a majoritarian coalition -- not just electorally, but specifically on issues around trans rights -- that, by necessity, is going to have to include people who have a range of thoughts.
An Ohio law prohibiting transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care has been declared unconstitutional by a state appeals court. The court has permanently blocked officials from enforcing the ban.
On March 18, a three-judge panel of the state's 10th District Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's ruling that allowed the state to enforce the ban, reported NBC News.
The ban on gender-affirming care -- which passed along with a ban on transgender women and girls from participating on female-designated sports teams -- was passed in late 2023 but was later vetoed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
The Pentagon will start forcibly discharging transgender service members within 60 days unless an individual can obtain a special waiver to allow them to continue serving.
On Wednesday, February 26, the Pentagon issued a policy memo outlining how the U.S. Department of Defense is complying with an executive order by President Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving openly in the U.S. military.
Trump's executive order claims that allowing transgender people to serve in the Armed Forces threatens military readiness and undermines unit cohesion.
It contradicts a 2016 RAND Corporation study, commissioned by the Pentagon, that found allowing transgender members to serve openly had no negative impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness.
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