A Republican member of Congress called transgender people a “demonic evil” and asked that Christians pray for his protection from “the transgender cult.”

Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) just introduced an anti-trans bill in the House that would make it much easier for people to sue health care professionals who provide gender-affirming care. He went on the Washington Stand podcast to talk about it. The Washington Stand is run by the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Family Research Council and is hosted by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins.

Related

Hate group leader Tony Perkins is ever so upset that Congress members displayed trans flags

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Perkins asked how listeners should pray for Onder.

“This is as much a spiritual battle as it is a political battle,” Onder said. “I and my family have come under spiritual attack so, yes, please have your, your, your viewers, uh, pray to, uh, to guide me and guide my family to- that the hand of God would protect us from the demonic evil that is the transgender cult.”

Earlier this week, Onder introduced a bill called the “Chloe Cole Act,” which he describes in a typo-laden press release on his congressional website. Onder says the bill would place “fully [sic] liability on hospitals, clinics, and hospitals [sic]” and establish a right to seek civil damages “including detransition of medical expenses [sic] and damages for emotional distress, pain and suffering.” The bill also increases the statute of limitations.

The bill is based on the myth that young people who aren’t transgender are being pushed to get gender-affirming health care by a profit-motivated health care industry. The reality is that it is difficult for transgender youth to access trans health care at all. Most kids who are treated for gender dysphoria as young people are actually transgender, the rate of detransition is very low, and the rate of regret for gender-affirming care is lower than it is for other medical interventions.

Onder is in his first term in Congress after about a decade in the Missouri Legislature. When he was a state senator in 2016, he introduced a constitutional amendment that would have created a right for businesses to refuse to serve LGBTQ+ couples. The amendment ultimately failed in the legislature.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.