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The House Civil Law Committee approves legislation that would prohibit transgender individuals from using bathrooms in public buildings that’s in line with their gender identity. Denham Springs Representative Roger Wilder says he’s trying to prevent a biological woman from having to share a bathroom with a transgender female.
“Women must know that they are truly protected from the vulnerability of intrusion, embarrassment, trauma, or unfortunately in worse cases, situations of assault,” said Wilder.
Wilder said this legislation is in response to a biological male who identifies as a woman, demanding access to a female changing room at a facility in his district. The proposal covers bathrooms in schools, prisons, and domestic violence shelters.
Mariah Wineski, with the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, argued this legislation puts federal funding for domestic violence shelters at risk because Louisiana’s shelters would be in violation of federal rules.
“The bill as written would result, my rough calculations, in the loss of somewhere around $14 million per year in recurring federal funding for the shelters which again is the vast majority of what they receive,” said Wineski.
Trans advocate Britain Forsyth urges members of the House Civil Law Committee not to force transgender children to use a bathroom that aligns with their biological sex.
“I get that everyone is worried about kids. I’m also worried about kids. I’m asking that we also worry about trans-kids. Cause they are very scared,” said Forsyth.
Despite the concerns raised, Baton Rouge Representative Emily Chenevert looks at this legislation as a commonsense bill…
“This is not to harm any child, but this is to bring some commonsense clarity,” said Chenevert.
The measure heads to the House floor for more discussion.
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