Students' testimonies neutralize transgender bathroom bill in Tennessee House committee

The controversial proposed Tennessee bill on transgender toilets that had sparked debates between parties died a quiet death in the House Committee on March 22, when transgender students came out in number to express the possible effects that the bill's approval would have on their lives.

Had it been passed, the bill would have compelled transgenders students to use public toilets assigned to their gender of birth, and not to that of choice.  A transgender teen who was born male but looks and acts like a girl would have to use the boys' bathroom. 

ABC News reports that the students felt that they made the right move in appearing before the Committee.  After the bill gradually lost support, they also said they felt satisfaction that their voices had been heard.

News Channel 3 adds that parents of the transgender teens also came to back their children's cause and express their own fears.  One father of a transgender who was born male but acts like a female warns of the high suicide rate among minors in the school who had changed gender identity. Implied in that statement is teens' taking of their own lives because of the discrimination and bullying that they experienced in school.

Rick Womack, R-Rockvale, withdrew his support to the bill after hearing the testimonies of both the transgender teens and their parents.  

Henry Seaton, an 18-year-old teenager who was born male but switched his identity to female, said after the hearing that he felt elated that his concerns were recognized by the Commitee. 

Meanwhile, Democracy Now suggests that while the campaign against discrimination is gaining traction, the war still has be to be won.  A case in point is North Carolina which passed an ordinance that allowed transgenders to use public bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity.  However, legislators from the state are working to overturn the ordinance.

Tags

Transgender toilet, gender identity, discimination, transgender teen suicide

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