All Bad News

In Google News I googled transgender and all that came up was bad news, the Republican attack on trans children is in full swing with one Republican state trying to out other Republican states on who can pass the most draconian legislation, “I see your bill making it illegal to say “gay” and raise you by making it felony!”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs transgender medication, bathroom, 'sex talk' bills into law
WAAY Ch 31
By Josh Rayburn
April 8, 2022


Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed two bills related to transgender issues and sexual identity into law.

One outlaws transgender youth's access to gender-affirming medications. The law makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to trans youth under 19.

Ivey released this statement upon her signing the Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act: “There are very real challenges facing our young people, especially with today’s societal pressures and modern culture.

“I believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl.

[...]

Ivey released this statement upon signing this bill into law: “Here in Alabama, men use the men’s room, and ladies use the ladies’ room – it’s really a no brainer. This bill will also ensure our elementary school classrooms remain free from any kind of sex talk.

Then on the midnight train to Georgia,

In Dead of Night, Georgia Lawmakers Sneak Through Legislation Allowing Discrimination Against Transgender Kids Playing School Sports
HRC
By Delphine Luneau
April 5, 2022


Following the passage early this morning of Georgia House Bill 1084, legislation that creates an athletics committee with the authority to ban transgender youth from playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — denounced the move as discriminatory, unnecessary and damaging to the state’s LGBTQ+ students.

Then in a move that is the pinnacle of hypocritical statements, the governor of South Dakota, “proclaimed that it ‘makes me sad’ to hear about high rates of depression among LGBTQ+ people in her state – just days after she signed the first anti-trans bill of 2022 into law.”

There is some good news, well kind of...

Kentucky Gov. Vetoes Anti-Trans Sports Bill, But Override Possible
“Transgender children deserve public officials’ efforts to demonstrate that they are valued members of our community,” Gov. Andy Beshear wrote.
The Advocate
By Trudi Ring
April 6, 2022


Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has vetoed a bill that would bar transgender girls and women from female school sports teams, but legislators could still override his veto.

The anti-trans Senate Bill 83, Beshear wrote in a veto message Wednesday, is not only discriminatory but ignores the steps taken by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to assure that no student-athlete who has an unfair advantage can compete. Under the association’s policy, a post-pubescent trans female must take hormonal therapy for a sufficient length of time to minimize any gender-related advantage. Lawmakers behind the bill did not cite a single instance of the KHSAA’s policy being ineffective, he said. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has a similar policy (SB 83 would apply to students from sixth grade through college).

“Transgender children deserve public officials’ efforts to demonstrate that they are valued members of our community through compassion, kindness, and empathy, even if not understanding,” he added.

But don’t get your hopes the legislature has enough votes to override the veto which will happen probably this week or next. The same is true with the vetoes from Indiana’s and Utah’s governors they are expected to be overridden.