Pivotal week for LGBT equality

Bills that target transgender individuals: Today, all eyes are on South Dakota's Governor Daugaard, who is expected to either veto or sign the country's first ever "genital check bill," HB 1008, this afternoon.  If signed, South Dakota will be the first state to pass a bill specifically targeting transgender people.  HB 1008 would restrict transgender students from using restrooms that match their gender identity and raises a host of privacy concerns. 

Late last week, major South Dakota business voices, including the Sioux Falls Chamber, Sanford Health, Citibank, First Premier Bank, and Wells Fargo expressed concerns about the bill and urged the Governor to veto it. If the bill becomes law, South Dakota policy will be in conflict with federal guidelines, exposing the schools to legal action and potential loss of federal funding. The implementation of the policy also raises a host of unanswerable and serious questions about how schools will determine a young person's genital characteristics and chromosomes when deciding which bathroom they would use under the new measure.

In Tennessee, another bill that targets transgender students, SB 2387/ HB 2414, is scheduled for a hearing in the House today. The bill would force students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match the students' birth certificates regardless of the student's gender identity. Notably, Tennessee is the only state in the United States that statutorily bans people born in the state from ever changing the gender listed on their birth certificate.

Bills that would enable discrimination the name of religion: In West Virginia, a RFRA, HB 4012, has passed the first Senate Committee after passing in the House and will be voted on by the full Senate this week.

The clock is running out with March 12 marked as the last official date of legislative session. An impressive and diverse range of voices are united in opposition to the bill including Dow Chemical, Marriott, and religious groups including the Catholic Committee of Appalachia's West Virginia Chapter.

There are a series of copycat First Amendment Defense Act bills (FADA, or as we like to call it, Fighting to Allow Discriminations Acts) that would prohibit the government from taking action to protect people who are victims of discrimination in the name of religion.

States including Georgia (HB 757), Missouri (SJR 39 – a constitutional amendment that would appear on the ballot for voters' approval), and Mississippi (HB 1523) have introduced parallel bills and clearly haven't learned from the experience with the federal bill, which died last summer before it even had a chance to come to the floor after an outcry because it would allow discrimination against a wide range of people, including LGBT people and single mothers. Some state versions would also allow discrimination based on gender identity. These bills continue to move through the legislative process and pose a real risk of passage.

Bills that would allow businesses to turn LGBT people away, including marriage services, continue to move through the legislature. A wide-ranging bill in Mississippi that would allow government officials, individuals, and government-funded social services programs to discriminate against LGBT people, HB 1523, passed in the House and has moved to the Senate; and two bills in Kentucky single out same-sex couples for discriminatory treatment – SB 5 creates separate marriage licenses for same-sex couples, and SB 180 would undo public accommodation protections that already exist in eight cities across the state. Both could move this week.

Also in Tennessee, a bill that would allow counselors to turn LGBT people and others away in the name of religion, SB 1556, passed in the Senate and is pending in the House.

 "These bills represent the last ditch efforts of a vocal minority to prey on fear and ignorance as a vehicle for pushing an extreme agenda," said Eunice Rho, ACLU Advocacy and Policy Counsel. The majority of the country agrees that LGBT people deserve the same rights and protections as everyone else and these bills are out of step with the direction of our nation and the true values of the American public."     

You can use this bill-tracking page for the latest information.

The Gayly- 3/1/2016 @ 1:51 PM CST