There have been more than 20 bills introduced this session dealing with gender, reproductive health care, sex education, and censoring content about these topics.
Last session, the attacks were on “equity and inclusion” and “critical race theory,” but the IFF, their GOP cronies, and Blaine Conzatti of the Family Policy Center have learned that it’s a lot harder to defend racist attacks than it is to hide sexism and homophobia in good old traditional family values: heterosexual parents, with 2 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence.
The first attack on the LGBTQ community came with the 3rd bill introduced in the Senate: (S1003) a prohibition on multi-use bathrooms that passed both houses this week.
The bill is about more than a bathroom. It’s about the fear and disdain for people who are transgender, gay and lesbian. In week 2 when Sen Herndon described the simplicity of the bill with a silver tongue, his constituent revealed the underlying attitudes and shared in his testimony his disdain for people who are gay or trans because he is a Christian.
I have seen open and proud discussions in the news from Blaine Conzatti and the IFF, who work with members of the legislature, about incorporating Christian Nationalism into law to preserve “a way of life” that is particular to a patriarchal religious tradition. A good example of this — H202 that requires public schools to hang signs stating “In God We Trust” if they are donated by any outside organizations, overriding parent wishes or school board decisions.
That bathroom bill set the tone for our session this year to deny rights and access to public services to a particular group of people. To me, that’s discrimination in a place where we believe in justice for all. Next on the agenda is a bill outlawing public drag shows, which is so poorly written it would ban all theatrical and ballet performances among other things. I wrote an opinion piece that was published in the Idaho Statesman last fall which is still applicable…
Like previous efforts to expel people of color, people with disabilities, and others from communal space, these arguments for privacy just mask a fear of difference.
I am concerned about this law and others like it because they alienate people who don’t conform to a dominant norm. These proposed laws and the conversations about them contribute to the climate in which almost 50 percent of transgender people attempt suicide in their lives and transgender women of color are increasingly the target of deadly violence at the hands of partners and strangers.
H71 was in my committee on Friday. It will outlaw gender affirming care for minors even when their parents consent to medical treatment that is many times, life saving.
After two hours of testimony, where Idaho physicians debunked myths and misinformation and shared the facts with the committee about the reversibility of the drugs and the deliberative process that families go through when receiving this care, the committee still decided to send the bill to the 14th order for amendments. I made a substitute motion to hold in committee and my Democratic colleague and another Republican voted in support of that motion because we believe that people have the right to make decisions about medical care with their families and utilize agreed upon standards of care without governmental interference and overreach.
After hearing comments by committee members, I believe they will amend it to put it in another part of code but will still outlaw prescription medication like puberty blockers.
This is a heartbreaking and dangerous move that will have devastating impacts on kids who are currently using these medications and those who want to use them. We heard from parents, and we heard their desperation.
I am asking us to stand up to politicians and political movements that are effectively trying to erase an entire group of Idahoans and Americans from public life, and I ask that we embrace the full meaning of the promise of self-determination and liberty in our country.