'Woman of my word': Why this Nebraska senator's filibuster of anti-trans bill is still going

23 March 2023

Nebraska State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, a Democrat, is determined to block any anti-trans bills her colleagues attempt to pass.

LB 574, a bill that "would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to anyone under the age of 19," will be voted on this week, and the senator recently spoke with Rolling Stone about her efforts to stop the legislation in its tracks.

Last month, Esquire reported Cavanaugh said on Nebraska's House floor, she "will do anything she can do make life 'painful' for her GOP colleagues if they proceed with the bill.

Rolling Stone reports:

Cavanaugh has filibustered every single piece of legislation that has come to floor over a bill that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to minors.

According to the ACLU, at least 9 anti-trans bills have been passed in other states so far this year.

However, because of Cavanaugh's efforts, lawmakers are more than halfway into the state's 90-day legislative session, and not one bill, Rolling Stone reports, "has been sent to the governor's office — the longest stretch in Nebraska state history."

The senator, who is a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, told Rolling Stone she told her colleagues "if the bill were voted advance to the House floor, she 'would burn the session to the ground.'"

Once the legislation did move forward to the floor on February 22, she told Rolling Stone, the very next day she "started filibustering, and hasn't stopped since."

Regarding the current state of the legislature, Cavanaugh told Rolling Stone:

It's hard. It's really hard. There have been families and us coming every single day during session to advocate against this bill. It's been hard to see these families talking to legislators who won’t listen to them, who won't trust them as parents. That's been pretty heartbreaking to see.

But the senator plans to power through the 43 days left of the legislative session, to let trans people know "there are people in positions of power that are willing to stand up and fight for their identity and for their lives."

In an interview with Vogue, the senator said:

There haven't been any days where I've thought about giving up, to be honest. It never crossed my mind that giving up was even an option. Failure isn't an option because, if I fail, I’m failing children, and I'm not going to fail children. It is my job to show up for them and to protect them and to ensure their health and safety and well-being in this state.

Rolling Stone's full report is available at this link. Esquire's full report is here. Vogue's full report is here.

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