title:  WATCH: This Congresswoman Put An Anti-LGBT Bigot In Her Place During Hearing
text: After an anti-LGBT witness demonstrated her ignorance of transgender people, a House Democrat openly called her a bigot for the record.During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Gail Heriot of the U.S. Human Rights Commission made it pretty clear that she probably should not be part of that body when she testified in writing that transgender people are living in a fantasy world where they are only pretending to be members of the opposite sex. If I believe that I am a Russian princess, that doesn t make me a Russian princess, even if my friends and acquaintances are willing to indulge my fantasy,  Heriot wrote.  Nor am I a Great Horned Owl just because   as I have been told   I happen to share some personality traits with those feathered creatures. Republicans are currently waging war against the federal government s public bathroom policy that protects transgender people from discrimination, which was a response to anti-LGBT policies passed in red states such as North Carolina where transgender people can only use the restroom that corresponds with the assigned gender on their birth certificate.Needless to say, Heriot s testimony made people angry, including California Rep. Zoe Lofgren. I ve got to say, I found this rather offensive,  Lofgren said upon reading the testimony.  It says to me that the witness really doesn t know anything and probably has never met a transgender child who is going through, in almost every case, a very difficult experience finding themselves. Indeed, being transgender is not a fantasy. It s reality and the struggle is very real. Not only do transgender people have to deal with discovering who they are, which often includes therapy and and medical treatments, they have to deal with bigots who have don t understand what they are going through.Lofgren was so offended by Heriot s testimony that she literally called her out for being a bigot for the record. I think you re a bigot, lady,  Lofgren told Heriot after she attempted to interrupt.  I think you are an ignorant bigot. Iowa Rep. Steve King protested on behalf of his fellow bigot by accusing Lofgren of being  out of order  but the California Democrat shut him down, too. Mr. Chairman, it is my time, and I would just like to say that we allow witnesses to say offensive things, but I cannot allow that kind of bigotry to go into the record unchallenged,  she said.Here s the video via YouTube.Lofgren was right to call out Heriot for the bullshit she wrote. As a member of the Human Rights Commission, she should be on the front lines fighting for transgender people to enjoy those same human rights that the rest of us enjoy. Instead, she s nothing more than a bigoted crony doing the bidding of transphobic Republicans.Featured image via screenshot