Republican New York Congressman George Santos has co-sponsored two controversial resolutions in the U.S. House of Representatives. The first resolution, House Resolution 115, seeks to implement a “Women’s Bill of Rights” that aims to reaffirm legal protections afforded to women under federal law. However, the resolution explicitly limits these legal protections to “biological differences between the sexes,” thereby eliminating transgender rights.
The bill tries to provide six points for women’s rights, but only recognizes the biological origins of a person’s birth certificate. Words such as “woman” and “man,” as well as “mother” and “father,” would be defined based on the sex assigned at birth, and the language allows discrimination under the basis of a person’s sex “when they serve an important governmental objective and are substantially related to achieving that objective.”
The second resolution co-sponsored by Santos, House Resolution 1095, seeks to make the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle the nation’s national gun. The resolution has caused outrage, especially within the LGBTQ community, due to the harm automatic rifles like the AR-15 have caused, including in the Pulse and Club Q nightclub mass shootings. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called Santos’ support of the AR-15 bill “disgusting,” saying the weapon has been used in mass shootings across the United States.
Both resolutions have yet to make it through to the House floor. The bills, introduced and co-sponsored by Republican lawmakers, have drawn widespread criticism, with many calling out the bills’ discriminatory language and the harm that the AR-15 has caused. Santos’ co-sponsorship of the bills as an out LGBTQ congressman has sparked outrage and led many to question his commitment to the LGBTQ community.