During an immigration hearing on Thursday, Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas pivoted into a bizarre attack on transgender rights. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, who was testifying at the time, quickly called Gill out and castigated him for engaging in a political stunt.
House Republicans originally said the hearing would be about so-called sanctuary cities and asked Pritzker to testify alongside fellow Democratic Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York. But then out of nowhere, Gill asked Pritzker, “Do you think that biological men should be able to use women’s restrooms?”
Clearly confused by the Republican’s strange detour, Pritzker responded, “I’m not sure how this has to do with immigration.” As Gill badgered Pritzker for an answer, the Illinois governor replied, “I thought we were here doing fact-finding.”
Gill complained that Pritzker had written a social media post about bathroom usage, but Gill failed to note the post’s context, a tactic Republicans often use while pushing to limit civil rights.
In 2017, during his first presidency, Donald Trump withdrew federal protections allowing transgender students to use gender-appropriate restrooms. Those protections had been put in place by former President Barack Obama’s administration.
In response to Trump, Pritzker mocked the action in a February 2017 tweet, writing, “As a protest against Trump’s rescinding protections for trans kids, everyone should use the other gender’s bathroom today! #protecttranskids”
During Thursday’s hearing, Gill continued to badger Pritzker about bathrooms even though the topic was unrelated to immigration, going so far as to ask Pritzker if he had ever used a women’s bathroom.
“What we ought to be focusing on is the failure of the federal government and the Congress to deal with immigration reform,” Pritzker explained. He then noted that Gill was essentially “admitting that is just a political circus,” and accused the Republican congressman of grandstanding.
Over the years, Republicans have blocked immigration reforms and have instead backed failed policies, like Trump’s border wall and current mass-deportation actions, which have sparked protests in multiple cities.
As Gill insisted on discussing bathrooms, Pritzker pushed back and said, “Let’s talk about your failure to vote for Medicaid. You want to take Medicaid away, end [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and veterans’ services. You apparently want people to die in the United States because you want to take health care away.”
Pritzker is referring to Republicans’ push for massive cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs in the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Asked later about his weird line of questioning, Gill told a reporter that his bathroom fixation was about Pritzker’s “credibility.”
Injecting the issue of transgender rights into an immigration hearing once again highlights the Republican Party’s goal of undermining civil rights gains for the LGBTQ+ community. Trump and other Republicans have smeared and attacked transgender people. Trump has also used his presidential power to ban transgender military service and has attempted to force states to prevent transgender participation in school athletics.
Pritzker has spent his time in office advocating for LGBTQ+ equality in Illinois. Last year, he signed legislation designed to protect transgender rights in response to Republican efforts at the state and federal level to undo recent gains.
In a March speech to the LGBTQ+ civil rights group Human Rights Campaign, Pritzker said, “The Trump administration and his Republican lackeys in Congress are looking to reverse every single victory this community has won over the last 50 years.”