“You refer to ‘persons capable of pregnancy.’ Would they be women?’ Hawley asked Khiara Bridges, a law professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, during a heated exchange at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “A lot of women, cis women, have the capacity for pregnancy, a lot of cis women don’t have the capacity for pregnancy,” Bridges replied. “There are also trans men who are able to get pregnant, as well as non-binary people who are able to get pregnant.” Pressed by Hawley about what Bridges’ view was about “the core of that right, then,” the professor argued that Hawley’s question was transphobic because it effectively denied the existence of trans men and non-binary people. “I want to acknowledge that your line of questioning is transphobic and opens up trans people to violence because it doesn’t recognize them,” Bridges said, to which the senator responded with disbelief. Hawley’s focus on inclusive language comes as both abortion rights and transgender rights have become political flashpoints across the country, with Republican state lawmakers passing a series of restrictive measures on both fronts in recent months and years. Bridges went on to note that transgender people suffer high rates of attempted suicide, adding: “Denying that transgender people exist and pretending they don’t know they exist is dangerous.” He asked the senator directly if he believes men can get pregnant. “No, I don’t think men can get pregnant,” Hawley said, to which the professor replied, “So you’re denying transgender people exist.” “Is this how you run your classroom? Are students allowed to question you or do they act like this too?” Howley asked. “We have a good time in my class,” Bridges replied. “You should join. You might learn a lot.”
