Transgender Bathroom Law: California Could Limit Your Rights If You Weren’t ‘Born This Way’
A new transgender bathroom law could upset the LGBTQ community faster than George Takei reporting a celebrity gay slur. It seems that unless you were born with the genitalia you have now, your bathroom use could be restricted to single-occupancy or private latrines across the state.
This new law, called the Personal Privacy Protection Act, has been introduced by the same people who attempted to repeal California’s transgender student rights act. What it would do is require everybody, regardless of gender, to “use facilities in accordance with their biological sex” in government buildings, public schools, and universities.
If you were born a man, and you now no longer have those organs due to surgery, you could be restricted to where you can relieve your bodily functions. The universal advice “go before you go” will take on a whole new meaning.
How could it be enforced? If a transgender male walks into a women’s restroom, patrons could sue the person or the government entity for violating their privacy.
Yes, you could actually get sued for using a public restroom if you’re a woman, but weren’t born that way.
California initative would bar transgender people from bathrooms: http://t.co/jtuqPTcOOC pic.twitter.com/usOaL1fL7d
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 21, 2015
The positive news for the LGBTQ community is that the group who proposed this new legislation has a history of not receiving enough signatures to get it on the ballot. They came up several thousand signatures short on the last one, and now there is a court battle over its failure.
Personal Privacy Protection Act spokeswoman Karen England is hopeful that this transgender bathroom law will move forward quickly.
“We hope to wrap up the court battle over the AB 1266 referendum and place that on the ballot. But we also expect to have this new initiative before the voters at the same time.”
Kris Hayashi, the Transgender Law Center’s executive director, claims the bill would be harmful to the LGBTQ community, and possibly others.
“[This] would dangerously single out Californians who don’t meet people’s stereotypes of what it’s like to be male or what it looks like to be female, putting everyone at greater risk of harassment and opening the state up to costly lawsuits.”
If you don’t look or act like you were born your gender, Kayashi says the transgender bathroom law could still be used against you.
How do you feel about the Personal Privacy Protection Act?
[Image via Huffington Post]
