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The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday passed HB111 setting definitions under state law for “man” and “woman.”
The bill by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, excludes transgender individuals from being defined by state law as the gender with which they identify.
House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen briefly attempted to add an amendment blocking agencies funded or operated by the state that host minors from allowing members of the opposite sex from entering bathrooms, changing rooms or sleeping areas. The amendment was the latest attempt to address Space Camp in Huntsville after individuals attacked a transgender employee who worked there, even though Space Camp said the targeted individual did nothing wrong.
“So, the ‘why’ behind this amendment, and I’m not going to name certain entities, but camps throughout our state,” Stadthagen said. “When you have, and I will tell you firsthand personally that my daughter has been in this situation where she was in a bathroom, which she thought was all girls, and it was actually a boy that was dressed as a girl in her bathroom. She called me crying. I picked her up at 10:30 at night from the camp. So, when I talked to the camp, they follow federal guidelines, and they said, ‘We need state guidelines to prevent this situation from happening again.”
Stadthagen withdrew the amendment, however, after saying he was told it could “compromise” some state universities.
The House did approve an amendment from Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, that would ensure the law does not prevent transgender citizens from claiming the gender they identify with on their driver licenses, as well as adding further protections.
The amendment clarifies that the definitions provided in the act only apply to state law, and that “the definitions shall be construed consistent with the Supremacy Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the United State Constitution.”
Newly elected State Rep. Marilyn Lands, D-Huntsville, said the bill is an effort to “silence transgender and non-binary Alabamians.”
“I’ve heard from many constituents who oppose this bill and won’t be silenced,” Lands said. “As a licensed professional counselor, I know the toll this will take on our LBGTQ+ community, especially our youth.”
The bill passed 77-24, basically along party lines. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, and Patrick Sellers, D-Birmingham, joined Republicans in approving the bill.
