The North Carolina Legislature has voted to override Democrat Governor Roy Cooper’s vetos of three bills related to transgender issues.
Republicans gained a veto-proof majority in April after state Rep. Tricia Cotham left the Democratic Party.
The bills ban sex change hormones and surgical procedures for minors, prevent biological males from playing girls’ sports, and limits gender ideology in public schools.
The governor vetoed the bills in July, claiming in a statement that “Republicans are serving up a triple threat of political culture wars using government to invade the rights and responsibilities of parents and doctors, hurting vulnerable children and damaging our state’s reputation and economy like they did with the harmful bathroom bill. Instead of scheming for the next election, Republicans should get to work investing in our public schools and teachers, lowering the cost of living and creating more stability for middle-class families.”
Under House Bill 808, which takes effect immediately, children who are already on hormone treatments may continue with parental consent. However, it also blocks government-funded healthcare plans from covering “surgical gender transition procedures, puberty-blocking drugs, or cross-sex hormones to a minor.”
North Carolina is now the 22nd state to ban sex change procedures for minors.
Democratic Sen. Lisa Grafstein, who is a lesbian, said that HB808 “may be the most heartbreaking bill in a truly heartbreaking session.”
The second bill, House Bill 574, bars “students of the male sex” from playing on all “athletic teams designated for females, women or girls” from middle school through college.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which oversees school sports in the state, had a policy allowing transgender students to play on the team they identify with by simply filling out a form, which is then reviewed by a committee to determine if the “student genuinely identifies as the gender indicated in the request.”
The News & Observer reports that Brandon Moree, spokesperson for the association, has said that they will be removing that policy to comply with the state law, but that the association “aims to support all student athletes and would prefer there be as few barriers to participation in education-based athletics as possible.”
Democratic Rep. Marcia Morey called the bill “mean-spirited” on the House floor on Wednesday, according to a report from The Hill.
The last bill is the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which bars educators from teaching students about sexuality and gender ideology from kindergarten through fourth grade.
