New governor displaces support for transgender citizens

BATON ROUGE, La. — As transgender people in Louisiana watched states in the conservative South implement laws targeting nearly every facet of their lives in recent years, they counted on their ally in the governor’s office to keep their home a relative oasis.

Former Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only statewide Democrat at the time, was able to block most bills.

But this year, nothing stands in the way. Edwards has been replaced by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump who has shown support for such legislation. And the GOP holds a two-thirds supermajority in the Legislature.

“These bills are ... going to become law,” said SarahJane Guidry, executive director of the LGBTQ+ rights group Forum for Equality. “And that is ... a tragedy, but (we) are going to continue to fight.”

Now that Edwards is out of office because of term limits, the Republicancontrolled Legislature is advancing the “Don’t Say Gay” and pronoun and name proposals; definitions of male and female that could effectively legally erase transgender people; and restrictions on the use of bathrooms and changing rooms in schools, domestic violence shelters and prisons. President Joe Biden’s administration has said a new federal rule could clash with such bathroom restrictions.

The situation in Louisiana mirrors a national flood of bills that have targeted transgender people, and especially youths, in recent years, a movement some observers say seeks more to motivate conservative voters than to solve real problems.

Landry’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment on this year’s legislation. But he has made no secret of his support for restrictions on genderaffirming care for minors.