The bill is also likely to have racist and discriminatory consequences beyond transphobia. The so-called “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” does not address this. The main reason that women face disadvantages in sports is because their teams receive less funding and attention than men’s. Only outstanding ones deal with critics who punish them for their achievements. In fact, transgender women participate in women’s sports around the world, and most perform as well as cisgender women. It has no grounding in science or international athletics standards. The trans sports ban, or Senate Bill 44, tries to outlaw any transgender girl’s participation in girls’ sports. When the bill says “gender identity and sexual orientation,” it uses this as a dog whistle for “LGBTQ kids.” The point is to greenlight transphobic and homophobic harassment, bullying and discrimination. Anderson” on a board is often a disclosure of this teacher’s sexual orientation. Grammar lessons on pronouns refer to gender identity (she, he). There is no way to enforce the letter of this law. This is a copy of identical legislation in Florida. It also places a gag order on teachers from disclosing their own sexual orientations or gender identities in grades K-12. The Don’t Say Gay bill, or House Bill 837, threatens to prohibit all discussion of “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” in classrooms for grades K-8.
A supermajority of Louisianans (71%) support comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.”Ī participant of the Baton Rouge rally took the event as an opportunity to come out to her extended family online, with the love and affirmation of other protesters. The letter, signed by LGBTQ+ organizations, social workers and the New Orleans teachers’ union, stated: “At the end of the day, everyone should be treated with dignity and respect – and that includes transgender young people. Participants at both events left a letter and signs at the office doors. They were probably staffers who saw the rally. But at the end of the event, an observer of the protest reported that two people exited through the back door. In New Orleans, the front door had an “out of office” notice. Protesters timed their rallies to deliver the message to both legislators at the same time.Įvent participants in both cities found the legislators’ offices vacant, at 4 p.m. If they both vote against the bills, they can stop them or delay them long enough to run out the clock this session. These politicians are Republican swing votes on the House Education Committee. In New Orleans, protesters rallied outside the office of Representative Stephanie Hilferty, and in Baton Rouge, they targeted Representative Barbara Freiberg’s office. The rallies took place outside of two key state legislators’ offices to push them to vote no on both pieces of legislation. They spoke out against Louisiana’s version of the Don’t Say Gay bill, and a ban on transgender girls playing sports. High school students, teachers, parents and social workers attended. Speaker reads letter by educators, parents, and students against anti-LGBT+ bills.īaton Rouge, LA - On April 29, 20 protesters in New Orleans and Baton Rouge held two coordinated rallies to protest anti-LGBT+ legislation.