BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards condemned recent legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Louisiana, saying he would veto those bills.
At a press conference on Thursday, Gov. Edwards compared the recent measures to historical opposition to the Civil Rights Movement.
"On those issues, the judgement of history ... will be very clear. It will be as clear as the judgement of history has been on those who didn't want civil rights in the '50s." Edwards said. "I'm not going to wait until then to say it's wrong. My judgement today is those bills are wrong."
Three major bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community have passed both chambers during the legislative session that started in April. According to NOLA.com, Edwards said he would veto these bills.
HB 466, known by its opponents as the "Don't Say Gay," bill was among them.
The bill includes restrictions on any talk of sexual orientation, gender identity or "pronouns," with any student in kindergarten through 12th grade.
There's also, HB 81, which mandates school employees, such as teachers, to use names and pronouns that match with the students' birth certificate, unless parents give permission to do otherwise. Additionally, teachers can not be required to use certain pronouns if they have "religious or moral convictions," which tell them not to do so.
Finally, HB 648, would ban healthcare professionals from providing hormone therapy or other gender affirming care for people under 18 years old.
According to NOLA.com, HB 648's sponsor, Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, said he believes those under 18 are unable to make educated decisions on whether to receive that care.
"I've got a son who is 15 and a daughter who is 13," Firment said. "They're bombarded by social media and external forces. You can understand how they would be very susceptible to making very bad decisions."
Many leading medical associations have said, gender-affirming care is safe and effective and leads to better mental health outcomes for transgender youth.
Edwards, in his press conference, questioned the urgency with which he said these measures were brought to the floor.
"Some of these bills affect three dozen people in our entire state," Edwards said. "All of a sudden, these are things we just have to do? -- I reject that."
A two-thirds majority from each chamber, can override the governor's veto.
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