ST LU

As the child of a biracial couple who has faced severe discrimination, I am disgusted that my state would entertain denying a marginalized group the basic dignity to be treated fairly as members of our community. This law not only goes against basic sociology: gender and sex do not line up perfectly with every person. It ignores the reality that protecting the trans community from harassment and harm necessarily requires they be allowed to use the facilities of their identified gender. The insistence that trans women don't belong in female facilities becomes absurd for one simple reason: trans men and non-binary individuals exist in almost equal amounts. You would force one group out of these areas to force another back in, gaining nothing but mistreatment in the process. It ignores the simple fact that we already have assault laws on the books, and singles out a group of humans who have overwhelmingly received harassment and harm in these recent years. It also ignores history. It ignores the generations of feminism that have already had this conversation with regard to black women, the lesbian community, the intersex community, and various other groups who went through the exact same struggle you now put in front of the trans community. Facilities bear no sexual or ideological purpose. Bathrooms are for simple biological realities of all genders, born of necessity. What's more horrifying, however, is to assume it is safe to put trans individuals in a prison separate from those that match their identity. This community faces extreme risk of both physical and sexual violence. To ignore that is damning for this entire committee. This bill WILL lead to assaults of innocent people if you pass it. The athletic debate of the trans community is fundamentally academic. It ignores the reality that 90% of athletics is about teamwork, self-improvement, and growth. It also ignores modern biology, which clearly states a trans individual who have gone through sufficient hormone therapy shows no distinct improvements over their cis counterparts. To add, it is also inconsistent. Would this committee suggest next that we deny athletes based on other characteristics? Should sufficiently tall people be excluded from athletics? Biology is a component of sports, that is why a competition exists in the first place. This committee, as all before it, still has not proven a single case where a trans person both had an advantage and intended to use it to the harm of other players. To imply trans people have breached some sensibility by using the facilities of their gender is to assume some greater purpose that the law does not already cover. At best, it is redundant. At worst it is disgustingly harmful. I oppose vehemently and strongly urge the committee to vote ITL