Repealing transgender protections: Its impact on America
Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump officially revoked the federal status of the transgender protections after weeks of speculation.
The guidelines, which former President Barack Obama set to allow any student to use any bathroom of their preferred sexual orientation, is now history.
According to Trump, he wants the governors and senators of each state to decide if they want to pursue a bathroom bill in accordance to the guideline.
Trump has finally done what he had promised not to do: strip away the protections the Obama administration has given to the LGBT community.
This is his first.
Trump’s sentiment on transgender protections
Trump had always been vocal about his sentiments about bathroom bills and transgender protections since May when Obama gave out the guidelines to public schools.
“It’s a new issue and right now, I just don’t have an opinion. I’d like to see the states make that decision,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity last year.
“I feel very strongly about that. The federal government should not be involved,” he added.
It was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, along with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos who made the announcement and called the guidelines without “sufficient legal analysis.”
Repealing the transgender protections guideline
While this may seem like two steps back for the LGBT, particularly the transgender kids, we can still rely on the governors to put in guidelines that can protect them.
While some states have already laid out versions of possible anti-transgender bathroom bills, other states have come up with their transgender protections.
1. North Carolina
Last year, North Carolina signed the HB 2 law or the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act by former Governor Pat McCrory.
This was the most anti-LGBT bills ever passed in the country, which not only stripped the LGBT of protection against discrimination, it also made it unlawful for transgender to use a bathroom according to sex preference.
However, with the backlash it received from corporations and NBA and NCAA pulling out finds and post-season games, plus a new Democrat governor, the HB 2 might actually be repealed.
2. New York
New York is and will always be progressive when it comes to legislation, and it is one of the states that allows transgender to use the bathroom they identify with.
Way back in 2015, Governor Andrew Cuomo decreed the criminality of discrimination according to sexual identity.
3. Illinois
Originally, Illinois had a bill in the burner which would make it illegal for transgender students to use bathrooms other than their birth sex.
Fortunately, with a good number of Democrats in their House and senate, this might not be able to pass. Even the Chicago Public Schools are not in agreement with Trump’s move.
4. Texas
Texas is the most troublesome of all states as it has two bills that are completely anti-LGBT when it comes to transgenders and bathrooms.
One bill declares that a person can only use the bathroom of their birth sex. The second bill prohibits unisex bathrooms and stops any Texan city to bypass this law.
“This is not discriminatory. It’s common sense, common decency and public safety,” Governor Dan Patrick declared in defense of the bills.
Delaware echoes Texas’s sentiments, while Washington and California both continue to support the guidelines set by Obama.