On Thursday, the Delaware State Senate approved a bill to add gender identity to the state’s hate crimes and non-discrimination laws, but there has already been backlash from conservatives.
One week ago Thursday, Puerto Rico governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed a law that made it illegal to discriminate against gender identity. This Thursday, Delaware joined the U.S. territory and went a few steps further.
In a vote of 11–7, the Deleware State Senate set into motion a bill that will make it illegal to discriminate against gender identity in accordance with their hate crimes and non-discrimination laws, including employment, housing, and public accommodations. If it passes through the House, it will be signed by Governor Jack Markell, who is openly in support of the law, and Deleware will become only the 17th state to have such laws.
Unfortunately, opponents to it, including members of the Deleware Family Policy Council (DFPC), have raised their voices in anger. They even went so far as to make a hate-video that accuses transgender people of being pedophiles.
The DFPC and other opponents are calling the non-discriminatory bill the “bathroom bill” because it will allow anyone who identifies as a man to use a male restroom, and the same for women. They worry about the ramifications of allowing trans-boys into girls-only schools and activities. Biological men who identify as women could use the services of women’s shelters.
These claims, while wholly unfounded, are exactly the types of things that the bill will outlaw—people who hold these discriminatory beliefs that transgender people are predators will still have to comply with the laws, which will hopefully prevent situations like the one with Issak Wolfe in Philadelphia from happening in Delaware.
All in all, things are looking up for Deleware.
Photo: Darryl Bush/AP
