A Race To The Bottom

It seems like it is a race to see which legislator can come up with the most demeaning legislation and in Virginia the race is in full tilt.

6 Anti-LGBT Bills in Committee Tomorrow – TAKE ACTION!
EQUALITY VIRGINIA
February 3, 2016

Tomorrow, an unprecedented number of anti-LGBT bills will be heard in the House Subcommittee 4 on General Laws sometime after 2PM on 2/4! These blatantly prejudiced bills seek to harm gay and transgender Virginians in a number of ways, from discriminating against LGBT families to prohibiting transgender people and youth from using the appropriate restrooms in schools and government buildings. Read the individual bills below:

• HB 77 (Marshall): Allows for discrimination in violation with federal policy
• HB 385 (Marshall): Removes discrimination protections covering more than 1/4 of gay and transgender public school employees
• HB 397 (LaRock): Contradicts federal policy and narrowly defines sex and gender to exclude transgender people from any protections against discrimination
• HB 663, HB 781 (Cole): Stigmatizes transgender youth and forces them to use incorrect public accommodations
• HB 773 (Gilbert): Provides a license to discriminate against gay and lesbian families

Right now, we need your voice more than ever to ensure these discriminatory and hateful bills never make it out of committee tomorrow. Take action by clicking here to contact your legislator! In just two steps, you can urge your delegate to side with the majority of Virginians and stop these harmful bills in their tracks.

And on a national level NCTE reports in an email blast that,

It’s not our style to bother you, but we need your help. Now.

The backlash against trans people that we’ve been expecting for years is here. As of today, we’re fighting against 29 pieces of anti-trans legislation in eleven states. And more are coming. And if we lose even one, our opponents will only accelerate their efforts.

We need your support to stop each and every one of these bills.

Make no mistake, these anti-trans bills are not only attacking trans adults, but they’re attacking trans youth. Our children. They’d make it illegal for transgender students to use the restroom at school and even place a bounty on their heads—rewarding classmates for turning them in.

And on their website they list all the bill in the different states…

A wave of anti-trans state bills is sweeping across the country.

Here’s what you can do to help us stop these bills in their tracks. We need trans people of all ages, as well as family, friends, and especially parents to take action!

Check back for updates or click here to make sure you are on NCTE’s email list. We will send out emails whenever there is an urgent action needed in your state.

Even in Massachusetts where they are trying to pass the pro-trans bill to include public accommodation there is a counter bill to take it away.

House Bill 1320
What it does: Requires people to access single-sex facilities (like restrooms, changing rooms and living accommodations) and educational, athletic and therapeutic programs according to their “anatomical sex.”
Status: Introduced and referred to Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

How you can help defeat the bill in Massachusetts:

• Get in touch with Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

The one thing all of these bills have in common is that they all have been introduced by Republicans and by voting for Republicans you are endorsing these bills because your Republican legislators are voting for these bills.