‘I am a substantial roadblock’: a Nebraska state senator’s filibuster for trans rights

Machaela Cavanaugh promises to hold up legislation unless bill to block gender-affirming healthcare for youth is dropped

When state senator Machaela Cavanaugh set out to block every bill brought by the Nebraskan legislature this session, it was kind of an accident.

She was so incensed by the advancement of LB 547, a bill looking to block gender-affirming healthcare for young people in Nebraska, she promised to hold up every single bill the legislature brought - including those she agreed with - unless her colleagues agreed to drop it.