Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Monday that would ban transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identities in the state’s public schools.
The legislation, titled the Effectively and Responsibly Protecting Areas for Women Act, or “SAFER Act,” mandates that schools in the state have same-sex restrooms, locker rooms and dormitories. Your text defines someone’s sex as “‘determined only by one birth’, without taking into account the fluidity of how someone acts or feels.”
Reeves, a Republican, wrote in a statement on X that the law — which takes effect immediately — is intended to “keep Mississippi’s daughters safe.”
“It’s mind-blowing that this is what Joe Biden’s America has come to,” he wrote. “Having to pass common-sense policies that protect women’s spaces was unimaginable just a few years ago. But here we are…we have to pass a law to protect women in bathrooms, sororities, locker rooms, locker rooms, showers and more.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rob Hill, state director of the Mississippi Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the country, called the new law an attempt to “take away the basic rights of LGBTQ+ people in our state.”
“This bill does nothing more than try to further alienate us at the expense of LGBTQ+ people, who deserve the freedom to be and to use bathrooms and locker rooms without the prying eyes of politicians peering over the top of the tent,” Hill said in a communicated. “Shame on the governor and the MAGA hate agenda.”
Since North Carolina lawmakers sparked national outrage in 2016 by passing a similar measure into law — which was partially repealed the following year — 10 other states have also enacted measures limiting trans people from using bathrooms that match their gender identities. , according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Mississippi now joins them.
In January, Utah lawmakers passed a law banning transgender people from using bathrooms in schools and government buildings. Earlier this month, transgender activists flooded a Utah tip line set up to alert the state to violations of the law. The thousands of false reports were intended to overwhelm authorities and stifle any legitimate complaints residents might have made about which bathroom trans people used.
Mississippi legislation restricting transgender people’s access to public bathrooms is among hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills proposed by conservative lawmakers in recent years. More than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in legislatures across the country this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 2021, Reeves enacted a law that limits trans students from competing in sports that correspond to their gender identities. He also enacted a law prohibiting trans minors from accessing certain transition-related care last year.
Mississippi is one of more than 20 Republican-led states defying Title IX rules issued by the Department of Education last month. Among several provisions, the rules explicitly prohibit banning trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identities in schools that receive federal funding.
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