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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Tennessee Bathroom Bill Places Transgender Students at Risk, Opponents Say

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Wednesday, March 9, 2016   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Controversy is growing around the so-called Bathroom Bill, which Tennessee lawmakers are considering.

The measure, House Bill 2414 and Senate Bill 2387, would require that students use restrooms and facilities based on the sex listed on the student's birth certificate. It's sponsored by state Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Old Hickory, and state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville.

Transgender advocates say the measure puts transgender students at increased risk of bullying, physical violence and even suicide.

"Going to the bathroom for trans people is already an issue of anxiety and stress," said Marisa Richmond, a lobbyist for the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, "and this would make things worse because they would be targeted by people for harassment and people trying to block their use of public facilities."

South Dakota's governor recently vetoed similar legislation, and the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, urging him to do the same.

Supporters say legislation is needed to protect the safety of children, although there have been no known incidences of a transgender individual violating another person in a facility. There have, however, been reports of transgender people being attacked or ridiculed when forced to go into a bathroom that is not the gender with which they identify.

Gretchen Peters' son was born as a female. At 3 years old, he told her he was a boy, and she admitted it took her awhile to understand his perspective.

"I was confusing it with sexual preference and, really, gender identity is a completely separate thing," she said. "If you think about a 3-year-old who says that he's a boy, that has nothing to do with sex. That has to do with who he is."

According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), transgender people should be referred to as the gender with which they identify and the name they choose to be called. Peters said legislation that dictates where a transgender person goes to the bathroom could be particularly traumatic for school-age children.

"Puberty is a very traumatic time for a transgender kid, because it feels like their body is betraying them," she said, "and to have this kind of indignity heaped upon them to basically say to them, 'We don't believe who you say you are,' I think it's very dangerous."

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality and The Task Force, a gender civil rights group, 90 percent of transgender people report experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job. Forty-one percent report attempting suicide.

The text of HB 2414 is online here, and the text of SB 2387 is here.


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