Thread by @ErinInTheMorn

Democrats in Washington State just passed a PRIEA act which will likely result in forced outing of trans students in the state.

Initiative 2081 gathered enough signatures to go on the ballot.

Rather than fighting it at the ballot box, they decided to pass it instead.

Horrific

The bill gives parents the "right to inspect mental health records" and "mental health counseling." It would also allow parents to "opt out" of education on "topics associated with sexual activity," which will be used to bar LGBTQ+ topics in school.

Democrats are likely making the calculation that they want to fight this in courts - had they voted against it, it would go on the November ballot.

However, now it just straight up becomes law.

The state is, to my knowledge, the first blue state with a forced outing law.

Chris Rufo is cheering on the result this evening. It is a stunning betrayal of trans and LGBTQ+ residents in the state, and a complete lack of willingness to fight this out at the ballot box.

Forced outing has NOT won when Moms For Liberty has run on it.

Even if the bill would have passed at the ballot box, the strategy of fighting it in court would STILL happen.

So it's just Democrats making a political calculation to not fight at all for their LGBTQ+ residents.

Democratic Speaker Laurie Jenkins and Senator Jamie Pedersen, anticipating blowback, wrote a "why we are passing this" story where they state that they "do not believe it poses a threat to LGBTQ+ youth" but "will watch closely"

The truth is, red districts in Washington State will absolutely read the law as granting permission for forced outing.

They are being willfully obtuse and they know that it will put LGBTQ+ people at risk.

The bill was passed with haste, with little input, and now Washington State will be the first state to move from dark blue "safe" on my risk assessment map to either light blue or light red, low to medium risk for trans youth moving forward, after I have time for assessment.

The founder of Gender Justice has reported that the calc to pass the bill unanimously was based on "polling" and cost and instead plans to fight it in the court, as earlier sources indicated.

Some may question the tactic of ceding rhetorical ground.

https://twitter.com/danniaskini/status/1764871343181283742

One thing that I often see is red state legislators try to find examples of Democrats voting against trans people and then saying, "see, this isn't controversial."

I think that many may be concerned with the precedent this will set.

Organizations have released a press release:

"Initiative 2081 could have significant impacts on LGBTQ youth... Our organizations will be closely monitoring the actions of school boards"

Large number of orgs on this press release. It appears that publicly, they are acknowledging now the threat that the bill poses towards LGBTQ+ students.