Democrats kill off repugnant anti-trans bills targeting life-saving healthcare and trans kids
Missouri’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors has officially come into effect this week. (Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Democrats in the Virginia Senate have killed off six repugnant anti-trans bills initially filed by Republicans.
All six were rejected by the state senate’s Education and Health Committee, which is made up of nine Democrats and six Republicans on Thursday (2 February).
Three of the bills targeted health-care related to minors transitioning. The others looked to ban transgender athletes from school teams of their identified gender.
Democrats rule the Virginia Senate by 22 to 18 Republicans, while Republicans have a narrow majority in the lower house, by 52 to 48.
Local LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Virginia labelled it a victory, going on to say on Twitter that the committee’s members were sent more than 3,000 emails voicing opposition to the bills.
The group said: “The fight isn’t over, but we know Virginians will show up for trans youth, day after day.”
Equality Virginia also claimed a total 10 of 12 anti-trans bills in the state have now been defeated.
The other two bills were filed in the House and are scheduled to be heard by its separate Education Committee today (3 February). One of those is another relating to sporting bans and the other would see education staff forced to out children to their parents.
The state’s American Civil Liberties Union organisation took to social media with a call to action, urging people to call committee members and tell them to oppose the bills.
Last week, House lawmakers also rejected a bill that would have forced trans students to obtain a court order to update their name in school.
Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, has previously spoken in favour of anti-trans views.
In September 2022, he proposed forcing require students to use toilets and changing rooms that matched their biological sex. The move prompted thousands of students to protest against it.
Republicans have run rife filing anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country in recent years and more than 120 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have already been proposed so far in 2023.
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