Jeff Landry hailed for trans ‘bathroom bill’ in schools after suing Biden admin over Title IX rules

LOUISIANA: The Louisiana House and Senate recently passed a bill targeting transgender restroom policies, approving HB 608 on Friday, May 17, which now awaits Republican Governor Jeff Landry's signature.

Titled the "Women's Safety and Protection Act", the bill seeks to define "sex," "male," and "female" in state law and mandates protections for women from biological males who choose to use female facilities, such as restrooms, prisons, and dormitories.

What does the bill state?

"The legislature finds and declares that physical differences between men and women, however, are enduring, the 2 sexes are not fungible; a community made up exclusively of one [sex] is different from a community composed of both," an excerpt of the bill read. 

Advocates have noted that the Supreme Court in US v Virginia acknowledged the inherent differences between men and women, stating these differences are "cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex."

Furthermore, the legislation references the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Landry, as the state's attorney general in 2016, strongly opposed then-president Barack Obama's interpretation of Title IX regarding school bathroom policies.

"Let me be perfectly clear. President Obama and his appointees do not have legal authority to require our children to share locker rooms and bathrooms with children of the opposite sex," Landry said at the time, according to Fox News Digital.

LGBTQ+ advocates criticized a controversial bill

Before the bill reached the House floor in Baton Rouge in April, LGBTQ+ advocates condemned it as one of the most restrictive draft policies in the US, arguing that it could heighten the vulnerability of the transgender community.

Concurrently, Louisiana's chief state education official directed schools in the Pelican State to disregard the Biden administration's amendments to federal Title IX protections concerning gender identity, The Hill reported. 

In a letter to school officials, Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley stated that the federal adjustment is at odds with state law, which mandates student-athletes to compete on teams according to their biological sex.

Brumley, alongside Landry, initiated a lawsuit against the Biden administration in this regard in late April.

At a press conference, Landry expressed a hypothetical desire to identify as the legendary NBA center Shaquille O'Neal to audition for the Louisiana State University basketball team, joking that he would be "laughed off the court," according to New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Who drafted the bill?

On April 11, the bill was initially passed by the State House with a vote of 80-17, having been drafted by State Representative Roger Wilder III from Denham Springs. 

The bill's progression toward becoming law signifies a significant shift in Louisiana's political landscape, particularly after the Republican Landry took office in January, succeeding the former Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.

In 2023, Edwards vetoed three related bills, including a pronoun restriction bill, restrictions on transgender surgeries, and a policy similar to the one introduced in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis, which critics have labeled the "Don't Say Gay" legislation.

Bel Edwards was the sole Democratic governor in the predominantly Republican Deep South, with North Carolina's Roy Cooper being the nearest geographically.

In his veto message, Bel Edwards described the set of GOP-led bills as detrimental to "a very small minority, who happen to be comprised of the most vulnerable, fragile, children in our state."

Internet praises 'Louisiana governor' Jeff Landry

As soon as the news went viral on social media, users started praising the governor. One social media wrote, "Nothing but bunch of nasty men pretending to be women! Good job Louisiana governor."

Another user demanded to ban transgenders by writing, "Can we just ban transgenders from everything!"

One commentator added, "TRANS do not belong in Women's Bathrooms Locker Rooms or Sports."

"Should be just ladies or men only," another added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.