A Texas state lawmaker says she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party after being “betrayed” by a pro-transgender “progressive abyss.”

Texas Rep. Shawn Thierry, who will soon leave state government after losing to Democratic challenger Lauren Ashley Simmons in the May primary, cited her anti-LGBTQ+ stance as the main reason for her departure from what she sees as the “radicalized” Democratic Party in a lengthy statement on Friday.

Thierry cited Democrats’ support for transgender rights and health care, a supposed “dismantling” of gender-based protections under Title IX, and, as she called it, “the rights of biological women” as reasons for becoming a Republican.

“The Democratic Party has drifted so far to the left, so deep into the progressive abyss, that it now supports policies that I cannot in good conscience support, like promoting gender reassignment surgery for children at a vulnerable time in their lives or dismantling Title IX protections for women in sports,” Thierry wrote.

“Mothers across our country from every background, race and community know that it is our sacred duty to preserve the innocence of our children, to protect them from sexualization and sterilization,” she added. “To respect universal truths and to uphold the rights of biological women as defined by science, nature and common sense.”

In an email to NewsweekTexas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said his party was “delighted that Shawn Thierry has found his true community – the hateful arms of the Texas Republican Party.”

“Shawn Thierry compromised her democratic values ​​and betrayed the voters of the 146th Congressional District. In response, she was rightly fired,” Hinojosa said.

“We hope Switch-Up Shawn finds comfort in a party that demonizes the Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, given its long history of denigrating those same communities in her district, her staff and in the Texas House of Representatives,” he added.

Thierry was one of three Democrats who supported a Republican bill earlier this year banning transition care for transgender minors in Texas. Several similar bills have passed in Republican-dominated states in recent years, even though nearly every major U.S. health organization supports at least some transition care for minors.

She also supported a bill banning transgender participation in women’s college sports and a bill banning “offensive” and “sexually explicit” books from public school libraries, which opponents argued would be used to block books on LGBTQ+ and racial issues.

Simmons, a union activist who identifies as queer and uses the pronouns “she” and “them,” is likely to replace Thierry in January because the Houston district she represents votes overwhelmingly Democratic.

While Thierry’s career as a Texas state legislator will end, at least temporarily, with the end of her term, she was hired earlier this month as the director of political strategy for the anti-transgender group Genspect in the United States.