Remember the Bathroom Bill? The state law imposed on an unwilling electorate by a blinkered GOP in 2016 imposed wounds on North Carolina that are still healing.
But in their homophobic haste to impose their deeply flawed sexual orientation views on the public, Republican legislators in Raleigh — including Brunswick County officials — are pursuing adoption of anti-trans legislation to place intolerable constraints on children and the adults who love them. As Progress NC Action reports, “North Carolina Republicans continue to push the state down the path of right-wing extremism.”
The chances for approval of one or all of these bills are favorable, especially since Delegate Tricia Cotham decided earlier this month to desert the Democratic Party, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the Senate and House.
Here’s a brief look at each of the GOP’s six proposals:
Senate Bill 631 and its House companion bill, HB 574, ban trans students from participating on an athletic team consistent with their gender identity. Senator Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) and GOP Delegates Frank Iler and Charles Miller of our county have co-sponsored this measure.
Senate Bill 636 bans trans and intersex children from participating in athletics at the middle and high school level.
Senate Bill 560 restricts gender-affirming care for minors and introduces unnecessary requirements for youth, families, and health care providers.
Senate Bill 639 outlaws life-saving treatment for trans youth by making it illegal for health professionals to provide gender-affirming care.
Senate Bill 641 allows medical providers to discriminate in providing health care to trans children.
Adoption of some or all the measures in this package will surely remind the nation of the embarrassing bathroom saga bill, victimizing children to address problems that don’t exist as well as hurting our economic development.
When will we learn to stop sacrificing the well-being of all our citizens on the altar of self-serving politicians?
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