The first of a flurry of bills addressing gender and biological sex has passed the upper chamber. Senate Bill 456 defines sex and prohibits transgender people from using certain facilities that align with their gender.
The bill defines the term “sex” by the reproductive tissues a person has at birth. However in this story we will also be using the term gender, which the Associated Press defines as the internal and social identity someone has. It often – but not always – corresponds with a person’s sex, but the two terms are not synonymous.
A transgender person is a person whose gender does not align with the one usually associated with the sex they were assigned at birth, as defined by AP.
The bill has a number of possible impacts on trans people in the state. For example, a trans woman – who was born male but identifies as female and may or may not have had surgery to alter their reproductive tissues – would not be able to go to a women’s domestic violence shelter if a separate space for transwomen was not available.
The language currently in the bill prohibits transgender inmates from being incarcerated in facilities that align with their gender, even if they have undergone gender confirmation surgeries.
Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, voted in favor of the bill.
“I very strongly believe that there are just two sexes, and I also believe that we women especially need to know that we are safe when we are entering an environment like a restroom or a locker room that we expect to be is a safe space for us,” Rucker said.
In both the house and senate committees, Julie Britton, the executive director of YWCA, which operates a domestic violence shelter in Charleston, testified against the bill.
“There are no alternative facilities, and if we are not available, the only other option would be a homeless shelter or the streets,” Britton said. “I don’t know if we’re worried about trans women’s safety, but putting trans women out on the street and not serving them would be a death sentence.”
Rucker said the facilities can still do their best to accommodate trans people in the state.
“I think it was very clear these women’s shelters and correctional facilities, any of these types of areas, do their very best to try to accommodate what is safe for the individual that they’re trying to help, and they will help any individual who needs safe spaces,” Rucker said. “It may cost them more because they may have to go to a hotel instead of staying in their shelter, but they still will accommodate the needs of the people who are needing a safe space.”
However without a fiscal note, it’s not clear where the extra money for hotel rooms and separate spaces would come from.
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, was the single no vote on this bill. He said restricting women’s access to shelters is one of the problems with this bill.
“This is going to create a problem and potentially an interruption of services,” Garcia said. “One of the things we heard from the domestic violence shelter executive director was that you may have people that they can’t serve because of the restrictions this puts on them, and therefore they’re gonna be on the street”
Despite the bill’s stated purpose, it cannot be applied to public bathrooms. That’s because of the U.S. fourth circuit court decision, Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board. That court decision upholds that the state cannot prohibit transgender individuals from using restrooms that align with their gender.
