Republican says trans rights will lead to bestiality in unhinged floor debate

[Jessica_Rose ✅]

Republican says trans rights will lead to bestiality in unhinged floor debate

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/05/republican-says-trans-rights-will-lead-to-bestiality-in-unhinged-floor-debate/ 🔗

Molly Sprayregen

A Vermont Republican equated trans identities with bestiality during a May 15th floor debate on an animal cruelty bill.

State Sen. Steven Heffernan (R) said he supported the bill banning sexual contact between humans and animals, but also said he felt he should warn his colleagues about "what's coming."

What's coming, according to Heffernan, is a slew of people identifying as animals, claiming that the law does not apply to them because they are not human.

"In these crazy times, what happens if the individual identifies as an animal having intercourse with an animal? How is the court going to handle that?" Heffernan asked.

"Being that we voted through Prop Four, and if it does make it through this state, and I have a gender identity that I identify as a dog and had sex with my dog, is this law going to affect me?"

In March, the legislature passed Prop Four, an anti-discrimination bill that includes gender identity and expression and seeks to add these protections to the state constitution. Vermont voters will now decide on the proposal via ballot measure.

The state Senate voted 29-0 to pass Prop Four, but Heffernan did not cast a vote. He walked out just before the vote began, claiming he didn't feel well. At the time, he told VT Digger that his "pizza hit at the right time," calling his stomach pain "convenient" since he didn't know how he was going to vote.

Heffernan's worry, then, is that the anti-discrimination amendment will make it acceptable for people to identify as animals and call it their gender identity.