Bathroom bill

A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that defines access to public facilities — specifically restrooms — by transgender individuals. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination of their sex as defined in some specific way – such as their sex as assigned at birth, their sex as listed on their birth certificate, or the sex that corresponds to their gender identity.[1] A bathroom bill can either be inclusive or exclusive of transgender individuals, depending on the aforementioned definition of their sex.

Critics of bills which exclude transgender individuals from restrooms which conform to their gender identity argue that they do not make public restrooms any safer for cisgender (non-transgender) people, and that they make public restrooms less safe for both transgender people and gender non-conforming cisgender people.[2][3][4] Additionally, critics claim there have been no cases of a transgender person attacking a cisgender person in a public restroom,[2] although there have been isolated incidents.[5][6] Transgender people have been verbally, physically, and sexually harassed or attacked by cisgender people in public facilities.[7]

Proponents say such legislation is necessary to maintain privacy, protect the innate modesty held by the vast majority of cisgender people, prevent voyeurism, assault, molestation, and rape,[8] and retain psychological comfort.[9][10]

One bathroom bill, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act in North Carolina, has been approved as a law in 2016, although portions of the measure were later repealed in 2017 as part of a compromise between the Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature. Texas recently approved a similar measure.

Canada

In Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP) has introduced several bills that tried to include gender identity and gender expression among the characteristics protected from discrimination and eligible to be considered in sentencing crimes motivated by hate.[11] These bills were frequently referred to as "bathroom bills" by their critics as they would have allowed transgender individuals to use the public facilities corresponding to their gender identity.

In 2009, NDP MP Bill Siksay introduced Bill C-389 to the 40th Parliament.[12] The bill was passed by the House of Commons in 2011 but was defeated by the Senate.[13]

Bill C-279, introduced to the 41st Parliament in 2011 by NDP MP Randall Garrison, was passed and sent to the Senate in March 2013.[14] In 2015, Senator Don Plett introduced three amendments to the bill, one of which exempted public washrooms and changerooms from the bill's protections.[15] The bill was also ultimately defeated in the Senate.

Garrison re-introduced the bill to the 42nd Parliament as Bill C-204.[16]

And Bill C-16, a similar bill to the NDP bills, was intruded on May 17, 2016 by Federal Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould to the 42nd Parliament. The bill passed the legislative process in the House of Commons and the Senate, and became law upon receiving Royal Assent on June 19, 2017, coming into force immediately.[17][18][19]

United States

In a landmark 2013 case, the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled in favor of 6-year-old transgender student Coy Mathis to use the girls bathroom at her elementary school. It was the first ruling of its kind in the United States and one of the first high-profile transgender rights cases, garnering huge amounts of media attention.[20]

In March 2016, the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education released a joint guidance on the application of Title IX protections to transgender students.[21] The guidance stated that for the purpose of Title IX, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education treat a student's gender identity as their sex.

In October 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender male student who was barred from using the boys' bathrooms at his high school in Gloucester County, Virginia.[22] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit had previously ruled that Grimm could use these restrooms, but the Supreme Court stayed that decision in August.[23]

Public opinion regarding transgender bathroom rights in the U.S. is mixed. A Pew Research poll from October 2016 found that about half of U.S. adults (51%) stated transgender individuals should be "allowed to use public restrooms that correspond with the gender they currently identify with," with nearly as many (46%) taking the opposite position—and say "transgender people should be required to use bathrooms that match the gender they were born into." Younger people aged 18–29 were more likely to support transgender people's right to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with (67%).[24] A more recent YouGov poll from March 2017 found that 40% of Americans supported "a law that would require transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender of their birth" with exactly the same percentage (40%) opposing such a law.[25]

Alabama

A bathroom bill was introduced in Alabama on February 7, 2017 by state Senator Phil Williams.[26] The bill, if passed, would require attendants to be present in mixed-gender public bathrooms to ensure that no crimes are committed there.[27]

Arizona

A bathroom bill was introduced in Arizona, but it failed to pass after it was withdrawn by its sponsor, John Kavanagh, in 2013.[28][29]

California

In September 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bathroom bill that mandates single-occupancy public bathrooms be gender-neutral in order to enable easier access for transgender people. The law went into effect on March 1, 2017.[30][31][32]

Florida

A bathroom bill was introduced in Florida in the spring of 2015 as HB583 by Representative Frank Artiles.[33][34] Proponents claimed, in the language of the bill, that it was designed to prevent "assault, battery, molestation, rape, voyeurism, and exhibitionism."[8] Opponents claimed that the only purpose was to be "discriminatory", and that it would "criminalize [transgender people] for simply going about their daily lives."[35] The bill went through two House committees, but did not pass.[36] There were no further bathroom bills filed in the Florida state legislature in 2015 or 2016, but organizations like Equality Florida said in 2017 that they were preparing for the possibility of future bills.[34]

Kentucky

On February 27, 2015, a bathroom bill was passed in the Kentucky Senate, the bill did not pass the Kentucky House.[37][33]

Minnesota

A bathroom bill was introduced in Minnesota in 2016.[33][38]

Missouri

Two bathroom bills were introduced in Missouri in 2017.[39]

Nevada

On March 19, 2015, Victoria Dooling, a Nevada state representative, proposed a bathroom bill that would apply to public schoolchildren in the state.[40] It later died in committee.[41]

North Carolina

On March 23, 2016, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) signed into law the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (commonly known as House Bill 2). The law states that in government buildings, individuals (such as students at state-operated schools) may only use restrooms and changing facilities that correspond to the sex identified on their birth certificates. Transgender persons born in North Carolina can obtain modified birth certificates on which their sex is different than what was originally identified at the time of their birth, but only if they have undergone sex reassignment surgery.[42] For those born in other places, the ability to change the sex listed on a birth certificate is governed by their place of birth (which may have substantially different requirements, and in some cases may not allow such changes).[42]

The bill also overturns an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance that had been passed by Charlotte, North Carolina, prevents local governments in the state from enacting similar ordinances, and prevents cities from raising their minimum wages higher than that of the state.[43]

On August 26, 2016, a U.S. District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction, preventing the University of North Carolina from enforcing the restroom provisions of the bill.[44]

On March 30, 2017, the legislature partially repealed House Bill 2, removing the restrictions on restroom use by transgender individuals. The compromise agreement was criticized by both LGBT rights groups and conservatives.[45]

South Carolina

A bill was introduced in South Carolina in 2016. (H. 3012)[46]

South Dakota

On February 16, 2016, the South Dakota Senate voted 20-15 to approve a bathroom bill that, had it passed, would have been the first in the country to require public schoolchildren to use facilities that match the sex they were assigned at birth.[47] On March 1, 2016, the governor of South Dakota, Dennis Daugaard, vetoed the bill.[48] Early in the 2017 legislative session Republican Sen. Lance Russell refiled the bathroom bill but on January 30 he withdrew the bill because of GOP Gov. Dennis Daugaard again promised a veto.[49]

Tennessee

On April 6, 2016, the Tennessee House Education Administration and Planning Committee, which is part of the Tennessee House of Representatives, passed a bathroom bill that would apply to public schools and colleges in the state and would require students to use a restroom that corresponds with their sex as identified at birth.[1][50] The house sponsor of the bill tabled the bill for potential consideration in the next year's session.[50]

Texas

Two bills were filed in early 2015 by state passed 21-10 in the Senate and has been sent to the Texas House.[51] The speaker of the Texas House, Joe Straus, has voiced his opposition to the bill and does intend for his body to consider the legislation.

Virginia

In early 2017, HB1612, proposed by Republican Bob Marshall would bar users to use the restroom, changing facility or private area of their non born sex in government buildings.[52] In HB1612, it also stated that individuals that did not use the bathroom of their born sex would be subject to civil action. Additionally, HB1612 required school principals to inform the parents of a child if the child did not wish to identify as their born sex. The bill was killed in subcommittee on January 19, 2017.[53]

Washington

In early 2015, SB 6548, which would prevent transgender individuals from using the bathroom associated with the gender with which they identify was introduced in the senate but failed to pass.[54] In December 2015, Washington State's Human Rights Commission enacted a rule that allowed transgender individuals to use bathrooms conforming with their gender identities. Early in 2016, a bill to overturn the ruling (SB 6443) was voted on in the state Senate, and defeated by a margin of 25-24.[55] An attempt to put a state voter initiative on the November 2016 ballot, I-1515, failed to reach the number of signatures necessary to appear on the ballot.[56] On December 5, 2016, a new bill, HB 1011 was pre-filed in the Washington State House. This bill would prevent transgender individuals from using a bathroom of their gender identity unless they have had sex-reassignment surgery, and would prevent local municipalities from enacting ordinances contradicting the directive.[57]

Wisconsin

In November 2015, Wisconsin held a hearing on a bathroom bill to require public schoolchildren to use facilities that match the sex they were assigned at birth. According to critics, the bill would also violate the federal government's Office for Civil Rights's 2014 statement that federal nondiscrimination law covered gender identity. The following month, the bill was revised to allow public schools to offer gender-neutral bathrooms.[58][59]

Criticism

Critics of bathroom bills have argued that they place transgender people in danger without making cisgender people any safer and that they even make things more dangerous for gender non-conforming cisgender people.[2][3] The UCLA's Williams Institute has tracked prevalence of crimes in bathrooms since the passage of various protections for the transgender population and has found that there has been no significant change in the amount of crimes.[20] Marcie Bianco, writing for Mic, pointed out that there is not a single documented case of a transgender person attacking a cisgender person in a public restroom.[2] Writing for Patheos, Terry Firma argued that there have been more Republican politicians arrested for sex acts in bathrooms than transgender people.[4]

According to the largest U.S. survey of transgender people ever undertaken, carried out by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in 2015 with 27,715 respondents, one percent of respondents reported being sexually assaulted in a public restroom for being transgender. Twelve percent reported being verbally harassed in a public restroom, and another one percent reported being non-sexually physically assaulted for being transgender. Nine percent reported being denied the right to use a public restroom consistent with their gender.[7] The NCTE acknowledges that in its report that this survey was undertaken before any bathroom bills had been passed or were in the news.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Lopez, German (April 7, 2016). "Tennessee's anti-transgender bathroom bill, explained". Vox. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bianco, Marcie (April 2, 2016). "Statistics Show Exactly How Many Times Trans People Have Attacked You in Bathrooms".
  3. 1 2 King-Miller, Linday (April 12, 2016). "Stop Using Women's Safety to Justify Transphobia".
  4. 1 2 Firma, Terry (April 11, 2016). "More Republican Politicians Than Trans People Have Been Arrested For Sex Acts in Bathrooms".
  5. ↑ Pazzano, Sam (February 26, 2014). "Predator who claimed to be transgender declared dangerous offender". Toronto Sun. Toronto Sun. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Chokshi, Miraj (14 July 2014). "Transgender Woman is Charged With Voyeurism at Target in Idaho". NYT. New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "2015 U.S. Transgender Survey : Executive Summary" (PDF). U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington: National Center for Transgender Equality..
  8. 1 2 Kasperkevic, Jana (17 March 2015). "Florida anti-transgender bathroom bill moves a step closer to passing". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (14 March 2017). "Texas Senate Approves Controversial Bathroom Bill After Five-Hour Debate". Time. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Gelernter, Josh (17 December 2016). "A Conservative Defense of Transgender Rights". National Review. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Nease, Kristy (September 22, 2011). "Garrison introduces bill to protect transgender rights". Goldstream Gazette. Langford, British Columbia. p. 1.
  12. ↑ "Bill C-389 (Historical)". openparliament.ca. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Ibbitson, John (February 10, 2011). "Transgendered-rights bill headed for defeat in Tory-held Senate". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Commons approves transgender rights bill". CBC News. March 20, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  15. ↑ McGregor, Janyce (February 27, 2005). "Transgender rights bill gutted by 'transphobic' Senate amendment". CBC News. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  16. ↑ Page, Jillian. "NDP re-introduces transgender rights bill in the House of Commons". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ LegisInfo (42nd Parliament, 1st Session).
  18. ↑ LEGISinfo - House Government Bill C-16 (42-1)
  19. ↑ Tasker, John Paul (June 16, 2017). "Canada enacts protections for transgender community". CBC News. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  20. 1 2 "When A Transgender Person Uses A Public Bathroom, Who Is At Risk?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  21. ↑ "U.S. Departments of Justice and Education Release Joint Guidance to Help Schools Ensure the Civil Rights of Transgender Students". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  22. ↑ "Supreme Court to rule in Gloucester transgender case". WAVY TV 10. October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  23. ↑ Robert Barnes; Moriah Balingit (October 28, 2016). "Supreme Court takes up school bathroom rules for transgender students". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  24. ↑ Lipka, Michael (3 October 2016). "Americans are divided over which public bathrooms transgender people should use". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  25. ↑ McCarriston, Gregory (16 March 2017). "Partisan gap widens on transgender bathroom rights". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  26. ↑ "Bill Text - AL SB1". Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  27. ↑ Harress, Christopher (7 January 2017). "Alabama bathroom bill targets transgender right". AL.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  28. ↑ Brodey, Sam (March 9, 2015). "Get Ready for the Conservative Assault on Where Transgender Americans Pee". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  29. ↑ Gardiner, Dustin (June 5, 2013). "Arizona transgender bathroom bill won’t move". Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  30. ↑ California Gender-Neutral Restroom Bill Becomes Law. NBC Bay Area. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  31. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (September 29, 2016). "Single Occupancy Bathrooms in California Must Be for 'All Genders'". Time Magazine. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Bill Text - AB-1732 Single-user restrooms.". Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  33. 1 2 3 The Editorial Board, For Transgender Americans, Legal Battles Over Restrooms, The New York Times, July 27, 2015
  34. 1 2 "Wave of bathroom bills has Florida's transgender community worried it's next". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  35. ↑ Flowers, Garin (15 April 2015). "Transgender bathroom bill maybe down the drain". az central. Arizona Republic Media. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  36. ↑ Single-Sex Public Facilities, Bill No. CS/CS/HB583 of February 4, 2015. Retrieved on March 4, 2017.
  37. ↑ Wynn, Mike (March 1, 2015). "Transgender bathroom bill passes Ky Senate". Louisville Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  38. ↑ Montgomery, David (April 12, 2016). "‘Privacy’ vs. ‘discrimination’: Legislature debates transgender bathroom bill". TwinCities.com.
  39. ↑ Griffin, Marhsall (February 18, 2017). "Future unknown for Missouri's ‘bathroom bill’; K-12 advocates say districts ‘already handling this’". St Louis Public Radio.
  40. ↑ Taylor, Marisa (April 1, 2015). "The growing trend of transgender 'bathroom bully' bills". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Nevada Assembly Bill 375". Legiscan. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  42. 1 2 Shoichet, Catherine E. (April 5, 2016). "North Carolina transgender law: Is it discriminatory?". CNN. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  43. ↑ Graham, David A. (March 24, 2016). "North Carolina Overturns LGBT-Discrimination Bans". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  44. ↑ Geidner, Chris (August 26, 2016). "Federal Judge Orders UNC Not To Enforce 'Bathroom Bill' Provision Of Anti-LGBT Law". Buzzfeed. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  45. ↑ Fausset, Richard (March 30, 2017). "Bathroom Law Repeal Leaves Few Pleased in North Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  46. ↑ Turnage, Jeremy (December 20, 2016). "Freshman state lawmaker files 'bathroom bill' as NC works to repeal theirs". wistv.
  47. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (February 16, 2016). "South Dakota Could Pass ‘Bathroom Bill’ Affecting Transgender Students". Time. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  48. ↑ Botelho, Greg (March 2, 2016). "South Dakota governor vetoes transgender bathroom bill". CNN. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  49. ↑ Nord, James (January 31, 2017). "South Dakota's transgender locker room bill scuttled". Associated Press. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  50. 1 2 Ebert, Joel (April 18, 2016). "Transgender bathroom bill dead for year". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  51. ↑ "Bathroom of 'biological sex' bill passes Texas Senate". Dallas Morning News. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  52. ↑ Koma, Alex (January 4, 2017). "Del. Bob Marshall introduces transgender "bathroom bill"". InsideNOVA. Northern Virginia Media Services. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Subcommittee kills Virginia transgender "bathroom bill"". WTKR. January 19, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  54. ↑ "SB 6548 - 2015-16". Washington State Legislature.
  55. ↑ "Transphobic Bathroom Bill Dies in Washington State". February 11, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  56. ↑ "I-1515, the 'bathroom initiative,' fails to make November ballot". seattlepi.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  57. ↑ "Washington State GOP lawmakers introduce anti-transgender bathroom bill". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  58. ↑ "Bill revised to allow gender-neutral bathrooms in Wisconsin schools". St. Paul Pioneer Press. December 16, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  59. ↑ Beck, Molly (November 20, 2015). "If passed, GOP transgender bathroom bill would be first in the nation". Madison.com. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
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