(ConservativeSense.com) – Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed new legislation to make his state the 12th one to codify a right to public same-sex spaces in public education institutions, including bathrooms, dormitories, and locker rooms.
Reeves announced the signing on Monday, May 13. He also criticized the federal government for imposing regulations that would ban states from enacting blanket policies that would bar transgender-identified students from using whatever bathroom they decide aligns with their so-called “gender identity,” as well as other federal provisions. State attorneys general are challenging those regulations, and not just from Mississippi, but from other states as well.
In a social media post, Reeves described the America of President Joe Biden as “mind-blowing,” noting the absurdity that it would have been “unimaginable a few years ago” that there would ever be a time where it was necessary to pass laws to “protect women’s spaces.”
The new law will require every public education institution in Mississippi to modify their campus buildings to enforce same-sex changing areas, dorms, and bathrooms, and to have at least one gender-neutral changing room and bathroom for use. According to the legislation, unless it is designated as a gender-neutral space, same-sex spaces must be limited to one’s biology regardless of any procedures an individual may have undergone to alter their appearance. Violators could face legal action, although the institutions would not be liable for incidents.
The law goes as far as to specify that people are either female or male biologically, which is “observed or clinically verified at birth,” and that this is not determined by any “psychological, chosen, or subjective experience,” or their “feelings, actions, or sense of self.”
As expected, Democratic lawmakers who opposed the restrictions during legislative debates said that the law would put those who identify as trans at risk, and also ripped into their GOP colleagues with accusations of misplaced legislative priorities while other issues are at hand.
Opponents of gender ideology have been waging a battle against it throughout the nation, and Reeves has been at the forefront. He passed restrictions keeping males out of female sports teams and leagues and also banned “gender-affirming care” in any form for minors.
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