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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Wisconsin Republicans defend transgender restrictions bill
By SCOTT BAUER | November 19, 2015 | 3:15 PM EST
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans pushed Thursday for Wisconsin to become
the first state in the nation to prohibit transgender public school students
from using a bathroom or locker room assigned to the gender with which they
identify.
Opponents, including students who stood and sat on the floor in a packed
hearing room, argued the proposal is a violation of federal Civil Rights law
. The soonest that the state's GOP-controlled Legislature could act on the
bill is January, and it's unclear whether the measure has enough support to
pass.
The issue has roiled communities in Wisconsin, including in the district of
the bill's lead sponsor, and across the country as more children identify as
transgender at younger ages. Several school districts in Wisconsin have
their own policies, but Rep. Jesse Kremer said a statewide law is needed to
protect them from lawsuits and create a unified standard.
But Leland Hilliard, a 15-year-old transgender student, said he prefers to
use an all-gender bathroom at his Madison high school, which would not be
allowed under the proposal.
"I would feel my right to be safe and protected in public schools would be
jeopardized," Hilliard said. "My mental health would be flushed down the
toilet I'm not even allowed to use."
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states looking to become the first to
restrict which bathrooms transgender students can use. Similar measures were
defeated earlier this year in Minnesota and Nevada, while other states such
as California and Massachusetts are moving in the opposite direction and
requiring schools to permit transgender students to use bathrooms and locker
rooms based on the student's gender identity.
The Obama administration said in a friend-of-the-court brief filed last
month that it's against federal law to prevent transgender students from
using restrooms that correspond with their gender identities.
During Thursday's Education Committee hearing, the president of an anti-
abortion group said it is "inherently wrong" for schools to allow
transgender students to share bathrooms with students who would be
uncomfortable with that.
"It is a social experiment that borders on child exploitation," said Julaine
Appling of Wisconsin Family Action, which supports the bill.
School districts are successfully dealing with concerns of transgender
students as they arise, said John Forester, lobbyist for the Wisconsin
School Administrators Alliance. He said the bill "declares open season on
school districts that try to compassionately meet the needs of their
transgender students."
Kremer has said the measure is in reaction to a situation in the Kewaskum
School District in which a student who was born female but identified as
male repeatedly used a school bathroom for boys. Under his proposal, school
boards would have to designate bathrooms and locker rooms as exclusive to
one gender.
Kremer, of Kewaksum, said the proposal "encourages safe, private and
dignified learning environment for all students," and argued that the Obama
administration was trying to rewrite federal law to impose an agenda
allowing a student to use any locker room they choose no matter their sex.
The bill defines gender as being "the physical condition of being male or
female, as determined by an individual's chromosomes and identified at birth
by that individual's anatomy."
It would apply only to public schools, not private schools that accept
students on taxpayer-funded vouchers. Mike Mikalsen, spokesman for bill co-
sponsor Sen. Steve Nass, of Whitewater, said the state wouldn't have
jurisdiction over private schools despite the vouchers.
Democratic state Rep. Sondy Pope, of Cross Plains, questioned how a student'
s gender would be determined, especially if it differs from how they were
identified at birth.
"This just does not seem like a solid policy to me," Pope said. "I would not
want to be on your side of the table defending it."
It's unclear whether the bill will pass the Legislature when lawmakers
return in January. Republican leaders in the Senate and Assembly did not
return messages Thursday seeking comment.
Gov. Scott Walker said in October that he thought there should be clarity in
the law on the issue, but he has not commented specifically on the proposal
. His spokeswoman did not immediately return an email seeking comment. |
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