Idaho Governor Signs The USA’s Most Anti-Trans Measures Into Law
The governor of Idaho has signed two controversial bills into law, both targeting Idaho’s turns community with the most discriminatory laws in the U.S.
As ‘Forbes’ reports, the first bill, House Bill 500, forbids trans girls from competing in sports with girls who are cisgender. What makes this bill even more controversial is the fact that if a high school or a college student-athletes is believed to be trans the school would be permitted to perform a physical examination of their genitals to verify the gender.
“This bill asks doctors to perform procedures way outside of the standards of care,” said Dr. Jessica Duvall, a pediatrician in Idaho. “Moreover, even if the tests were performed against medical society norms, more often than not they do not yield clear, easily interpreted results.” Duvall said such testing is not recommended for student-athletes by the American Academy of Pediatrics, or any other medical association.
The second bill which has been signed into law by Idaho Gov. Brad Little is House Bill 509, which prohibits trans people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates, which for trans people can lead to discrimination in hiring, homeownership, and much more aspects of everyday life where proper, matching identification is essential.
The ACLU of Idaho was swift to condemn Little's decision to sign the bills into law, calling them “discriminatory, unconstitutional, and deeply hurtful.”
“Leaders from the business, faith, medical, education and athletics communities will not forget this decision or what it says about the governor's priorities during a global pandemic,” said the ACLU in a statement. "The ACLU will see the governor in court. We encourage all Idahoans to email, call, and tweet Gov. Little to express outrage and disappointment at wasting precious taxpayer resources on blatantly anti-transgender bills at a time when we should be coming together for the health and wellbeing of our people.”
The Human Rights Commission calls both laws unconstitutional stating that “We are living in an unprecedented global health crisis, with confirmed cases of COVID-19 increasing on a daily basis in Idaho, across the United States and around the world, but Governor Brad Little and the Idaho legislature have decided to prioritize the demonization of transgender people,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
“This is unacceptable, and a gross misuse of taxpayer funds and trust. Idaho is leading the way in anti-transgender discrimination, and at a time when life is hard enough for everyone, Idaho’s elected leaders will be remembered for working to make their transgender residents’ lives even harder.”
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