Watch: Out Missouri Lawmaker Stands Up to GOP Colleagues over Anti-Trans Bill; Video Goes Viral

An openly gay Missouri state lawmaker responded to proposed legislation targeting transgender youth by challenging a Republican colleague, calling out the GOP's obsession with such laws, and declaring himself "not afraid" of those who author legislation hostile to LGBTQ+ people, the New York Post reported.

"In a passionate speech on Thursday, state Representative Ian Mackey, 35, blasted Representative Chuck Basye, 63, over his support of the Save Women's Sports bill," the Post detailed. The measure "would allow school districts to ban" student athletes who were assigned male at birth from joining girls' teams.

"Mackey, who is openly gay, asked Basye to reflect on his relationship with his own brother, who is also gay," local news station KY3 reported. "The conversation included remarks from Basye on his brother, noting that his brother thought the family would hold being gay against him."

"Basye said he 'didn't know' why his brother would think that and said 'it never would have happened,'" the news channel detailed.

"I would have been afraid to tell you too," Mackey told Basye, UK newspaper the Independent said.

"I would have been afraid to tell you [too] because of stuff like this, because this is what you're focused on," Mackey continued. "This is the legislation you want to put forward. This is what consumes your time. I was afraid of people like you growing up."

Reflecting on his own youth as a gay man, Mackey told his colleagues, "Thank God I made it out," adding: "I think every day about the kids who are still there who haven't made [it] out, who haven't escaped from this kind of bigotry."

"Gentlemen, I'm not afraid of you anymore," Mackey declared, before going on to say, "Because you're gonna lose. You may win this today, but you're going to lose."

As Mackey predicted, the Missouri state house passed the measure, 98-40.

The measure was not its own bill, but rather "an amendment to a different bill designed to audit the state's voter rolls," the Post noted.

"State lawmakers across the US have proposed more than 200 anti-LGBTQ laws already in 2022, most of them targeting trans people," the Independent noted.

Critics contend that Republicans have seized on the issue as a wedge to be used to motivate voters for the upcoming midterm elections. Local newspaper the Springfield News-Leader observed that transgender youth in athletics is an "issue that has grown increasingly popular among Republican elected officials and voters around the country but is targeted at very few children."

The News-Leader quoted Missouri state house Minority Leader Crystal Quade saying: "Members on the other side of the aisle have said directly to my face that they spoke on this issue because of their primary elections. Because they need to win elections in a redistricting year."

Watch Mackey's speech, embedded in the Twitter post below.