BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed three anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the Louisiana legislature, his office announced in a press release Friday.
Edwards vetoed three bills that have been seen passed, rejected, and legally challenged in a multitude of other states in the last few years, as part of a larger national debate over LGBTQ+ rights in America, especially those of transgender children.
The three bills Edwards vetoed are:
House Bill 466, which would have restricted the discussion of gender and sexuality in public school classrooms
House Bill 81, which would have required school employees to use the names and pronouns of students that correspond to their birth certificates (unless they have parental consent and teachers would still be able to opt-out for religious reasons).
House Bill 648, which would have banned gender-affirming healthcare for minors, which encompasses puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery.
Governor Edwards did sign Senate Bill 7 into law, which restricts minors' access to public library materials that are considered "sexually explicit."
While supporters of the aforementioned bills argued that the intention is to protect the upbringing of kids and maintain parental rights to raise their children, LGBTQ+ advocates argue the bills aim to target and attack the LGBTQ+ community and LGBTQ+ youth.
While Gov. Edwards did veto numerous bills from 2023's Legislative Session, the three anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed with a veto-proof majority, meaning the state legislature has the possibility of calling a special session to override the vetoes.
To read more about Gov. Edwards' action on the 2023 Legislative Session Bills, you can click this link.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.