The state of Idaho has become the first to ban trans women of all ages from participating in female sports competitions and to ban people from changing their sex on birth certificates.
The anti-transgender bills were signed by Republican Governor Brad Little despite the fact that the federal court previously ruled that banning people from changing their sex on birth certificates violated the US Constitution.
“There’s an injunction that already absolutely forbids this policy, and the government can’t enforce this law without violating a court order,” Lambda Legal attorney Peter Renn said.
Mr. Renn’s law firm previously represented trans women who filed a lawsuit that resulted in the federal court ruling in support of transgender people.
While the defendants of the anti-transgender bills argued that the new law will help the state keep realistic birth records and prevent trans women with physical advantages from competing in female sports, the critics suggested the law is discriminatory and against the Equal Protection Clause of the U.
S.
Constitution.While both bills have received a lot of support from Republicans in the Senate and House, the opposition slammed them as backward and bigoted.
“We condemn Governor Little’s actions and the actions of dozens of Idaho legislators who are so focused on pleasing their bigoted base instead of doing what is right,” Mistie Tolman of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii expressed.
As the state director of Planned Parenthood claimed, Idaho became one of the “cruelest states in the country” following the signing of the two bills.
Responding to the Governor’s bold decision were also human rights organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union that vowed: “The ACLU will see the governor in court.”
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Replaced!