SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A UC Berkeley law professor is in the national spotlight after accusing Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley of asking transphobic questions during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Hawley – one of eight Republican senators to vote against certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win after the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection – and Bridges – a published author on the subjects of race, class, reproductive rights and how all three intersect – sparred over her use of the term "people with the capacity for pregnancy" in Senate Judiciary testimony in a hearing centered on the legal consequences of the Supreme Court's decision last month to overturn a pair of previous rulings that established and affirmed, respectively, constitutional protections for abortion.
In written testimony submitted to the committee, Bridges said she used the term "in recognition of the fact that" cisgender women, transgender men and nonbinary people can all become pregnant. Bridges reiterated the definition during Tuesday's hearing when Hawley asked, "Would that be women?"
"Many cis women have the capacity for pregnancy,” Bridges told the senator. "Many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. There are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy, as well as nonbinary people who are capable of pregnancy."
"So this isn't really a women's rights issue, it's what?" Hawley asked.
"We can recognize that this impacts women while also recognizing that it impacts other groups,” she replied. "Those things are not mutually exclusive, Senator Hawley."
"Oh, so your view is that this right, then, is about what?" Hawley said.
"So, I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic, and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them," Bridges said.
Bridges testified amid a backdrop of state legislation restricting abortion access and targeting transgender rights, as well as a spate of prominent transphobic and homophobic attacks.
Since last month's Supreme Court ruling, abortion is banned or restricted 18 states due to a combination of laws predating Roe v. Wade and trigger laws anticipating the decision’s overturning. In addition, the Human Rights Campaign said in April that more than 300 bills targeting LGBTQ rights had been introduced, nearly half of which specifically centered on transgender people.
A number of all-ages Pride events and some featuring drag queens – including a library reading last month about 20 miles away from Bridges’ campus – have been subject to homophobic and transphobic abuse, with the prominent right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok highlighting many of these events to its 1.3 million followers. Last month, police in Idaho arrested 31 members of a white nationalist group for allegedly attempting to incite a riot at a Pride parade Libs of TikTok previously highlighted.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Hawley pressed Bridges on how his line of questioning was “opening up people to violence,” prompting the professor to note the high rates of attempted suicide among transgender people.
"Because of my line of questioning?” Hawley asked Bridges. “So we can't talk about it?"
"Because denying trans people exist, and pretending not to know that they exist, is dangerous," Bridges responded.
Bridges then asked if Hawley believed men could get pregnant, and when he said no, she said he was "denying that trans people exist."
"And that leads to violence? Is this how you run your classroom?" Hawley said. "Are students allowed to question you? Or are they also treated like this, where they're told they're opening up people to violence by questioning?"
"We have a good time in my class,” Bridges replied. "You should join. You might learn a lot."
Hawley tweeted the clip of the exchange to his nearly 892,000 followers on Tuesday, garnering more than 546,000 views as of publication and appearing with Fox News' Sean Hannity that night.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
