Sheila Jackson Lee: “I too had the opportunity yesterday to engage with Rebekah and her mother, and I want to just point to a stark reality.…”

“I too had the opportunity yesterday to engage with Rebekah and her mother, and I want to just point to a stark reality. Mr. Chair, 53 percent of trans kids considered suicide last year. I am glad that the Governor of Utah, in a very lengthy letter, said: I want them to live. What Rebekah said is that she loves playing sports. She gets to know people, and they know her. She said the talk that we are doing on the floor of the House is scary. It puts trans children--children in corners. They don't know who likes them or not or who wants to do harm to them. This is a meaningless bill. The Olympics has addressed the question. The NCAA has addressed the question. When will we realize we have the right to freedom of religion and we have a right to our beliefs, and in that we have no right to undermine and threaten the lives of trans children. Mr. Chair, I stand in opposition to this mean-spirited legislation because I am a woman of faith, and I believe in the humanity of all children. The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. The gentlewoman is no longer recognized.”