Georgia GOP hijacks mental health bill to make it anti-trans while Ohioans testify against new rules

Author: Mira Lazine

LGBTQ+ rights are at the center of the current American cultural discourse, with many state legislatures implementing severe restrictions on people’s rights to things like gender-affirming care or to inclusive education in schools. This week has no shortage of legislative issues that affect LGBTQ+ – and especially transgender – people’s lives.

Here’s the current happenings with laws both protecting and harming the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

• In Georgia, Republican lawmakers hijacked a mental health bill with amendments that are identical to previously failed anti-transgender bills. These include restrictions on childhood transitioning, sexual education, and library book restrictions. (Georgia Recorder)
• Fourteen people testified against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed rules for transgender healthcare. These rules would impose additional restrictions on care in hospitals, as well as adding data collection procedures for all transgender people in the state. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• A proposed bill in Minnesota, Senate File 3502, would help to establish the state as safe for LGBTQ+ individuals. The bill would grant over $1 million in funds to the PFund Foundation, a group that delegates grants to LGBTQ+ nonprofits. (Inforum)
• Alabama Republicans pass a bill restricting diversity discussions in universities alongside a bathroom ban. Senate Bill 129 combines both of these measures into extreme restrictions and is going onto the governor’s desk. (LGBTQ Nation)
• A gender-affirming care ban for minors in Kansas, S.B. 233, has a proposed grandfather clause, but with a catch. Doctors would only be allowed to continue to care for minors provided they develop a plan to get minors completely off the medication by the end of the year. (State Affairs)
• Louisiana is debating whether to pass a bill that would ban transgender people from using the bathroom they identify with. House Bill 608, the “Women’s Safety and Protection Act,” will restrict not only schools but also prisons and domestic violence shelters. (Nola)
• New Hampshire’s House voted in favor of a transgender sports ban. House Bill 1205, entitled the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” will be headed to the Senate, where it will likely pass. (The Hill)
• A group of transgender plaintiffs in Oklahoma asked the 10th Circuit to overturn a prior ruling that dismissed their opposition to the state’s birth certificate restrictions. Their attorney argues that it restricts their freedom of speech and makes them more likely to be discriminated against. (Courthouse News)
• LGBTQ+ advocates and New York Attorney General Letitia James push back on a proposed Manhattan school district resolution that would restrict trans girls in sports. The resolution would form a committee to assess the future of trans girls playing on women’s sports in the schools. (LGBTQ Nation)
• Bills that end legal recognition of trans people move on throughout the South. The “Women’s Bill of Rights,” drafted by the gender-critical group Women’s Liberation Front, continues in states like Louisiana and Mississippi. (The Advocate)
• Idaho lawmakers will vote on a bill that would restrict public funds from being used for gender-affirming care. House Bill 668 would include people like state workers on health insurance and those on Medicaid. (Associated Press)

Actual Story on LGBTQ Nation
Author: Mira Lazine