FACTS OF THE TRANSGENDER PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION BILL
In 2016, at least 15 states have considered “bathroom bills” similar to the legislation recently enacted in North Carolina, which blocks transgender people from using bathrooms that don’t correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificates. Opponents of these proposals have argued that the real motivation isn’t restroom protocol; it’s part of an ugly attempt by social conservatives to score a victory against a surging LGBT movement.
There is a huge misunderstanding between gender and sex. Gender is what it is to be psychologically male or female and sex is what it is to be biologically male or female. This bill only allows a person who identifies as a male to use a male restroom and who identifies as a female to use the female restroom. It does not permit crossdressers, perverts or pedophiles from using whatever bathroom they choose.
A transgender woman is a woman who happens to have the anatomy of a man. The person using the bathroom is a person who thoroughly identifies as a woman. Furthermore woman’s bathrooms have door and stalls so the only way to know someone has the anatomy of a male is if you are looking.
It is said that this can be unsafe for woman and children. A transgender woman said “the legislators introducing these bills to ban anti-LGBT legislation claim that they are about public safety. But it’s important to know that in the 18 states that have laws and ordinances protecting transgender people from discrimination, there have been no increases in public safety incidences. Why? Because there are still laws in every state making it illegal for anyone to enter a restroom to harm or harass people, or invade their privacy. Protecting LGBT people from discrimination doesn’t change that!”’
A transgender woman and a crossdressing man are two different things. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is a major part of their true identity. A crossdresser is someone who is doing the act of wearing opposite sex clothes, but is not the same as their gender identity.
Gender identity is at the core of who we are. No person should be discriminated against based on their denser identity. That is why we support transgender accommodation rights.
- Information provided by Massachusetts State Rep. Paul Heroux twitter: @PaulHeroux