JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House voted Wednesday in favor of a measure that would limit transgender people’s use of restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings, including school dormitories.
“People are either male or female” as observed or scientifically determined at birth,” according to the bill, which now moves to the Republican-led Senate, and they must use the corresponding facilities. Additionally, it mandates that public facilities have designated restroom or changing areas for both men and women, or designated spaces for single-person use that may be used by anyone.
Democrats who opposed the measure accused Republicans of discriminating against transgender people in an attempt to appeal to voters.
“They used to work on segregation, colors, and all of that,” said Rep. Willie Bailey, a Democrat from Greenville. “Then they began to attack people during pregnancy. Now they’ve got to have an issue on transgender — it’s really dumb.”
As Republicans seek to restrict the types of facilities transgender people can use and the activities they can participate in, this bill is one of several that are being considered in state legislatures across the country.
Republican Rep. Joey Hood of Ackerman, the chair of the Mississippi House Judiciary A Committee and a staunch supporter of the bill, stated that the legislation aims to ensure that people are using facilities that align with their sex at birth.
“We’re going to make sure boys go to boys’ rooms, girls go to girls’ bathrooms,” Hood said, an argument he reiterated several times during the debate.
The bill would allow a person to bring legal action against another if their sex at birth is violated when using a restroom or changing facility.
Additionally, it makes exceptions for individuals who require assistance, including children under 12 and those who need emergency medical and sanitation services. Regardless of gender, they would be allowed to use any locker room or public restroom.
Rep. Zakiya Summers of Jackson, who is Black, likened the regulations that transgender individuals face to those that Black citizens encountered during the Jim Crow era and the civil rights movement.
“It reminded me of what my ancestors had to deal with at a time when they couldn’t go in the bathroom, either, and they wouldn’t dare stick their toe in a pool,” Summers said.
At least 11 states have enacted laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from using women’s and girls’ restrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities. The laws have taken effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, while an Idaho law is on hold and Utah’s ban is scheduled to take effect July 1.
The Mississippi House and Senate have passed different versions of a “Mississippi Women’s Bill of Rights,” which defines the terms woman, man, mother, father, female, male, and sex in ways that support the notion that sex is determined at birth. Before the bill could be sent to Republican Governor Tate Reeves, the two chambers would need to reconcile to a single version.
Following the House’s vote in March, a bill that would have allowed incarcerated individuals to sue jails or prisons if they encountered inmates of a different sex in restroom or changing facilities was included in the list of protections for transgender individuals. However, the bill died in a Senate committee.
