A controversial bill that would compel transgender people to use domestic violence shelters, prisons, and schools that don’t conform to their sex status at birth was overwhelmingly passed by the Louisiana House.
House Bill 608, which won acceptance in a 79-16 vote, also needs final approval from the Senate.
Rep. Roger Wilder III, R-Denham Springs, says he filed HB 608 in an effort to safeguard women and girls in resilient spaces, but some Democrats have panned the measure as mean-spirited and damaging to a disadvantaged community.
In order to lessen worries that the new rules might threaten national funding for domestic violence shelters, Wilder changed the costs to make it clear that those shelters, as well as confinement facilities, may also define single-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and bedrooms that are not designated by sex.
However, a significant anti-domestic crime organization claimed that the shelters may be completely eliminated from the act.
“Domestic violence homes should not be included in this act, as we have a strong desire for them to,” according to Mariah Wineski, chairman of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Wineski stated earlier this week to a House section that Louisiana’s domestic violence homes rely heavily on federal funding. To get those offers, they must comply with governmental agency recommendations, which require homes not to discriminate based on gender identity. HB 608 could put shelters at odds with those guidelines, Wineski testified.
Following the vote, Wilder informed a reporter that as the bill passes through that chamber, the Senate will work with supporters to address their issues.
Wilder claimed in a statement on the floor of the House that his bill was “about love being extended to over half of our state’s population, which is female.”
LGBTQ+ advocates have warned that HB 608, along with other legislation targeting their community, could leave already-vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth even more susceptible to bullying and mental health problems.
“If we separate things by the way sex is defined in this bill, (a transgender girl) has to go change with the boys and is subject to some violence,” Britain Forsyth, a transgender man, said when he testified against HB 608 during a House committee meeting.
Rep. Aimee Freeman, D-New Orleans, also gave an emotional speech against the proposal.
“When you pass hateful legislation against our LGBTQ community, it is very, very spiteful and mean, and people leave our state because of it,” she said on the House floor.
Debate over HB 608 at times grew heated.
Some Republicans argued that the bill was merely about safeguarding women in private spaces rather than transgender people.
“Nowhere in this bill mentions trans at all,” said Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, who also filed a bill to restrict discussions about sexuality and gender identity in the classroom. “It’s not against anyone. The majority of our citizens, their daughters, and their children benefit from it.
Conservatives have, however, brought up the idea that a person’s gender identity should match their biological sex on numerous occasions.
“This bill is simply reminding Louisiana that a male that has been a male since the beginning of time is still a male,” said Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge.
Other bills being considered this year would prohibit public school teachers from discussing sexuality or gender identity in class outside of an approved curriculum, and would also permit teachers to refrain from using a child’s preferred gender pronouns.
