Welcome to the newest issue of the new Liberty Reporter!

The goal of this newsletter is to keep you informed, inspired and empowered to be part of this work. Let it serve as a reminder, the ACLU of Mississippi is unwavering in our commitment to equity and equality for all.

The 2024 Legislative session was not great. It was not terrible. There were more minuses than pluses. But there wasn’t an all-out assault on the City of Jackson, voting rights, civil liberties, and reproductive rights, like we often witness.

Granted, that is a very low bar.

There was positive movement in some areas. A bill to allow no excuse early voting passed the Senate but died in the House. House leadership said it needed more time to weigh the issue. Legislation that would have provided for automatic restoration of voting rights passed the House but was not even debated when it went to the Senate. We successively worked with House leadership to ensure that voters with disabilities could receive help from anyone they choose, when voting absentee. Efforts to restore the citizen led ballot initiative process failed. But even if the cynically proposed House and Senate plans became law, Mississippians would have been stuck with a ballot initiative in name only. Good bills to protect reproductive privacy, expand hate crime protections for the LGBTQ community, and allow for online voter registration.

However, the Mississippi Legislature continued its normal practice of deferring action on real issues while going out of its way to harm trans Mississippians. According to the leadership of the Mississippi Senate, telling people what bathroom they can and cannot use is the most important legislation of the 2024 legislative session.

Not expanding Medicaid. Not funding education. Not repairing and replacing infrastructure.

No, the most important legislation, the SAFER Act, is a bill to police bathroom use. Or, as Senator Dean Kirby put it, "This is the SAFER Act and it's dealing with transgenders." Year after year, Mississippi lawmakers have made a priority, attacking the rights of transgender people's access to public spaces, basic services, educational institutions, and ultimately compromising the ability of trans people to survive. This year, legislators focused on governing who can and cannot enter bathrooms. Even after the bill unexpectedly died in a conference committee, legislators voted to suspend their normal rules and resuscitated the SAFER Act.

The SAFER Act has nothing to do with protecting women. The goal of this act and other anti-trans legislation is to stop people from being transgender.

Marginalizing underrepresented people through legislation isn’t new. The targeted groups sometimes change but the tactic is the same. And we should fight it like any other form of discrimination. Because, like everyone else, a trans student should be able to play sports, use the restroom, and participate in activities alongside their peers. They should be able to be who they are.

Jarvis Dortch, Executive Director