CHARLESTON, WV (WCHS) — Anna Williams said she is a proud West Virginian who used to think it was a safe place for transgender people like herself.
“I used to tell other trans people to come here and live because it was so safe,” she told me.
However, after numerous new restrictions were implemented, she stated that she is afraid to live in the mountains.
“You’ve probably been in this long enough to tell when someone’s authentically scared by their voice,” she pointed out. “You can probably tell how terrified I am right now.”
Last week, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed the Riley Gaines Act, which defines the difference between a man and a woman. His reason was to protect the women of West Virginia.
“It’s common sense that women’s spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers should be kept private for women only,” he stated prior to the bill’s signing on Tuesday. “The bill that I have before me defines terms like sex, male, female and the state code to allow for single sex private spaces.”
Some people agree with Morrisey’s support for women, such as activist Riley Gaines, who has been open about her feelings about women’s rights.
“Governor Morrissey’s leadership is an example for his colleagues in all other states to follow,” Gaines stated on Tuesday. “Rather than sitting idly by, he took the horrible and severe and ongoing assault on women seriously, sat up and he took action to define sex-based words and protect women’s privacy and opportunities.”
Others, such as Natasha Kerensky, have chosen to leave the Mountain State in the hopes of feeling safer in a new environment.
“I’m heading to an area of an actual non-discrimination ordinance in place out of state mainly because I feel safer and have a place that you know isn’t going to discriminate against me and housing or employment,” according to her.
She claimed that the government is taking away her identity.
“I don’t exist according to the government, they’re trying to erase me,” she informed us.
Despite this, Morrisey has decided to stand up for what he believes in, regardless of how others feel.
“It takes a lot of the brave young women who are here today,” he told me. “It takes these amazing groups that are stepping forward to fight, especially when it was not popular to do that.”
