Vive la résistance
There's some good news in Columbia
It was a big week at the statehouse, with hearings on the South Carolina version of the thought-police bill that would penalize teachers and school districts for teaching actual history or discussing gender and sexuality, and hearings on the bills that would ban gender-affirming care for trans children. I was so caught up reading Paul Bowers’ latest piece updating us on his testimony and the hearings that I literally spilled an entire cup of coffee on the floor. Y’all should all be reading his newsletter
.In better news, there are a few bills that would actually be good for women going through the legislature. H. 3563 would end the tax on period products (why is there even a tax in the first place, sigh). H. 3908 mandates six weeks of paid parental leave for teachers for the parent who gives birth (only two weeks for the other parent) or adopts a child. While this seems like really an absolutely bare minimum, I guess it’s a start. Legislators seem eager to approve it as a way to stem the teacher storage (I’d also suggest not turning teachers into criminals with censorship bills, maybe pay them like the experts they are, but hey, what do I know). And on Wednesday, Representative Heather Bauer introduced legislation that would strike the current code that criminalizes women for self-managing abortion.
H. 4178 would update the code so that women would no longer be subjected to misdemeanor charges if they take abortion medication. When the state GOP was acting surprised a few weeks ago about the bill that would subject women that had abortions to the death penalty, you’ll remember that another Representative John McCravy, who sponsored his own abortion ban bill, was quick to disavow the death penalty: “Women are often the victims of boyfriends, victims of crimes, and we don’t want to prosecute women in any way,” McCravy said. “Extreme punishment would certainly be out of the question.”
It’s a weird statement. He seems to say that he doesn’t want to prosecute women at all, but then qualifies that we shouldn’t subject them to “extreme punishment.” I’ll be fascinated to see how he votes on the bill Representative Bauer is advancing. If you’re in South Carolina, now’s a great time to give your representatives a call, asking them to vote no on the censorship and anti-trans bills, and asking them to support H. 3563, H. 3908 and H. 4178. If you’re in Representative McCravy’s district (Laurens and Greenwood counties), maybe remind him of his promise not to prosecute women. We’ll see.
In more good news, there was a strong turnout this week at the Greenville County Library board meeting to protest against further anti-LGBTQ actions. If you want to get involved there, I recommend Freedom to Read SC, or brushing up on how to combat the white nationalism in libraries (thanks to one of my favorite feminist writers Adrienne Vandervalk for the link). And finally, my commute home from campus is a little brighter with this billboard ad on I-385 from the Alliance For Full Acceptance. Thanks for letting queer kids here know that we love them.
That billboard makes me smile every day!!!