Mississippi lawmakers quietly kill bills to restrict legal recognition of transgender people

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Republican-led Legislature will not take final votes on two bills that attempted to restrict legal recognition of transgender people.

The bills died quietly when House and Senate leaders failed to agree on compromise versions before a Monday night deadline. Lawmakers were working on several other complex issues at the time.

One bill would have restricted transgender people’s use of bathrooms and locker rooms in public buildings, including university dormitories. The other would have specified that sex is defined at birth, and that “there are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female.”

The House and Senate previously passed different versions of both bills. The Republican-controlled chambers would need to agree on a single version of each bill before it could go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.

In 2021, Reeves signed legislation to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls’ or women’s sports teams. Last year, he signed a bill to ban gender-affirming hormones or surgery for anyone younger than 18.

The Mississippi proposals were among several bills being considered in state legislatures across the U.S. as Republicans try to restrict transgender people’s access to gender-affirming care, bathrooms and sports, among other things.