In our first diary we told how Nevada's two "religious freedoms" bills were withdrawn by their sponsors after seeing the blowback Indiana received.
But another bill that institutionalizes discrimination of transgender public school students has found new life thanks to "simple-minded darkies" author, Assemblyman Ira Hansen.
Assembly Bill 375 (AB375) would ban transgender and gender non conforming students from using bath and locker rooms that didn't match their biological sex. These students would instead have to use school staff facilities, or the schools would need to build new separate, but equal, facilities.
This bill was set to die in the Assembly Education committee -- why hear a bill to undo the work of an extremely popular Governor, we're sure Chairwoman Melissa Woodbury thought. But, Assemblyman Hansen just couldn't pass up an opportunity to isolate, humiliate and segregate our non cisgender, heteronormative students. So he gave the bill a hearing in his Judiciary Committee, where it passed on party lines and is now headed to the floor of the Nevada Assembly for a full vote.
The Reno Gazette Journal came out strongly against the bill:
Dooling's bill fortifies the bullying of transgender children by making it the law of Nevada that they should be treated differently. The health and safety of all Nevada students should be paramount; AB375 must be rejected.
As did the "Dean of Nevada Politics" Jon Ralston:
It's offensive enough that they too often make Nevada a national laughingstock with measures to repeal academic standards because of goofy Internet memes or pass unconstitutional bills for concerned constituents named Bundy. But when they begin to raise the half-century-old specter of segregation with an outrageous bill to make transgender children feel like aliens in their own schools, someone needs to call them on their antediluvian "ideas."
Assemblywoman Vickie Dooling, the bill co-sponsor is leader of the Las Vegas Tea Party. Her co-sponsor, Senator Scott Hammond has an array of education bills, including one to create tax payer funded vouchers which are being marketed as "opportunity scholarships", and "savings accounts" so home school parents can receive public education money to teach their children at home.
For AB375 they've got some backing from out of state groups and one local one who did a very terrible job of defending their position on Ralston Live. Obviously the flash cards didn't help.
Butthey did lose the confidence of the former Minority Leader Pat Hickey, who is now being hounded by students brought in by a California-based group desperate to pass the bill.
If you want to keep an eye on this bill, click here. You'll find the bill text, meeting agendas and "exhibits" that can be anything from research studies to letters of support and opposition.