Radical House Democrats introduced a bill on Tuesday that would enshrine “gender identity” into discrimination law and prohibit religious objections.
The bill, named the “Transgender Bill of Rights” would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to outlaw discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” in public accommodations and federally funded programs and activities. The legislation is led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) David Cicilline (D-RI), Marie Newman (D-IL), Mark Takano (D-CA) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) .
The bill “explicitly clarif[ies] that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of…gender identity or sex characteristics in public accommodations and services on religious grounds…” The legislation is out of touch with the views of the majority of Americans, 60 percent of whom believe sex is determined by biology, recent polling shows.
The bill also takes aim at Republican state laws that protect women and girls’ spaces. The bill would force states to allow males who believe they are females to play women and girls’ sports. The bill would also force schools to allow students to use “facilities that best align with their gender identity.”
This element to the bill makes no mention of males’ biological advantages in sports, or the potential for males dressed as females to assault women and girls in bathrooms, locker rooms etc. Giving transgender people access to women and girls’ spaces and sports teams is also largely unpopular with voters, with 63 percent opposed, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll.
Additionally, the bill would ban “conversion therapy” — a leftist label for any kind of therapy that rejects the idea that people can choose their own sex. The new definition of “conversion therapy” is notably devoid of its historical context, which sometimes involved brutal and even illegal treatments perpetrated against same-sex attracted people.
At the same time, the bill would eliminate any government restrictions on access to “gender-affirming” medical care for adults and minors. “Gender-affirming” healthcare is a far-left euphemism intended to make mutilation sound like a compassionate course of action.
This type of care involves the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, of which many long-term side effects are unknown, as well as sex change surgeries. Some surgeries include the creation of breasts, cutting off breasts, and surgery on the genitals or reproductive organs, including building penises from the tissue of another body part.
The bill would prohibit states from punishing healthcare providers that provide sex change treatments to “transgender and nonbinary people,” like Alabama’s law, which makes it a felony to conduct gender transition surgeries or provide puberty blockers and other hormone treatments to children under the age of 19.
Not to miss an opportunity, the legislation seeks to codify Roe v. Wade, “guaranteeing the right to abortion” for “everyone, including transgender and nonbinary people.” While many voters seem to be confused about what the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe means for abortion nationwide, more voters favor allowing states to decide abortion law or a federal ban, rather than national law allowing abortions.
The legislation additionally proposes that “gender identification” requirements be eliminated from government documents. If elimination is not possible, it suggest an “X” marker be provided on those documents.
The bill is strikingly similar, though equally or more radical, to the Equality Act, which passed the House in February of 2021. However, the “Transgender Bill of Rights” has far less Democrat support than the Equality Act, with 85 co-sponsors compared to 224.