Oklahoma votes for funds threat to ban trans bathrooms in school

Pupils must use facilities that align with their biological gender or state will cut the flow of cash

SCHOOLS that allow children to use the bathroom of their opposite sex will lose funding under new Oklahoma legislation.

The state’s third bill directed at transgender people this year, dubbed the “bathroom bill”, will oblige all school children to use facilities that align with their biological sex assigned at birth.

Under the law, parents or students can report minors suspected of violating the rule to school officials, who are required to investigate and potentially discipline the students.

Schools that contravene or do not enforce the order could lose up to five per cent of their state funding.

Trans pupils who do not comply will be required to use a “single-occupancy restroom or changing room” on site.

The bill is expected to be signed by Governor Kevin Stitt this week and become the third law this year to target trans people in Oklahoma.

The bathroom bill passed the state’s Senate 38 to seven and 69 to 15 in the House.

Republican state representative Danny Williams, who authored the legislation, said the goal was to “protect our children”, according to local news outlet KTUL. “It’s about safety, it’s about protection, it’s about common sense,” he added .

A number of so-called “bathroom ban” bills have been passed in US states, including Texas and North Carolina.

In an impassioned argument against the law, Democrat representative Jacob Rosecrants, whose son is transgender, said it would isolate trans students.

“My child wants to go to the bathroom where he feels comfortable,” Mr Rosecrants said. “My kid just wants to ‘be’ … and he doesn’t feel like he can do that in this state.”

The Republican state became the first in the country to explicitly ban non-binary gender markers on birth certificates for people who do not identify as male or female.

Transgender females have also been banned from competing in women’s sports teams. Similar bans have been enacted in 15 other states, including Florida, Arizona and Alabama.

“When it comes to sports and athletics, girls should compete against girls, boys should compete against boys,” Mr Stitt said.

Oklahoma also passed the most restrictive abortion law in America last week, with legislation that prohibits abortion from the moment of fertilisation and relies on lawsuits from private citizens to enforce it.

Exceptions are made only if the woman has been a victim of rape or incest, and has referred the incident to the police.

The move has been made ahead of the expected overturning of Roe v Wade, which gave women the constitutional right to have an abortion.