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States Battle Over Bathroom Access for Transgender People

5 minute read

Last year, after contentious public hearings and several votes, Atherton High School in Louisville, Ky., adopted a controversial policy allowing students to use sex-segregated school facilities like bathrooms based on their gender identity. That school council meeting was the first to draw any public speakers in five years, and the fight it kicked off didn’t stop that night. Upset parents complained and tried, unsuccessfully, to repeal the measure. Now Republican state lawmakers are picking up the baton, backing a bill that would require students in Kentucky to use the facilities that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificate.

At a time when the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to make marriage equality the law of the land, so-called “bathroom bills” that target transgender people have emerged as one of the most contentious remaining battlegrounds over LGBT rights. Kentucky’s bill has passed the Republican-controlled Senate and is set to be considered by the Democrat-controlled House, though the leadership is unlikely to take it up. In Florida, a House committee passed a bill on March 4 that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to knowingly enter a bathroom that didn’t match the sex on their driver’s license or passport. “There is a culture of fear around bathroom use,” says Teagan Widmer, a transgender woman who runs an app called Refuge Restrooms, which maps gender-neutral restrooms around the world. “It’s fear that drives the legislation.”

Proponents of the measures say they are about safety. State Rep. Frank Artiles, the sponsor of the Florida bill, has argued that the bill is necessary to prohibit voyeurism and rape. In the bill he sponsored, Kentucky State Sen. C.B. Embry wrote: “Parents have a reasonable expectation that schools will not allow minor children to be viewed in various states of undress by members of the opposite biological sex.” If Embry’s bill does manage to pass the House and become law, students would be able to sue their schools for $2,500 if they encountered a person of the opposite biological sex in the bathroom.

Opponents say these concerns unfounded and dismiss the bills as solutions in search of a problem. “It’s always a transgender person who is at far greater risk of being attacked in a bathroom,” Maryland State Sen. Richard Mandaleno told TIME in an interview for a previous story, when organizers in his state were pushing a similar bill in 2014. “There’s always this parade of outlandish consequences that are going to occur that never do.”

These bathroom bills come as advocates for LGBT rights are pushing non-discrimination bills in at least 10 states, including Florida. Many aim to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from being fired, denied housing or turned away from a business because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Florida bill, called the Florida Competitive Workforce Act, is built around the argument that policies need to be as inclusive as possible for the state to attract top workers and businesses. A coalition backed by major corporate entities, including Marriott and Walt Disney World Resort, has formed to support the measure.

Currently 18 states have laws protecting people from discrimination based on either their sexual orientation or gender identity; three more states cover just sexual orientation. Ian Palmquist, a director at the Equality Federation, a national group that helps support state-level policy change, says Pennsylvania and North Dakota may pass non-discrimination bills this session. And he points to a non-discrimination measure recently introduced in Utah as evidence of a turning tide: it’s backed by a faith coalition that includes the Mormon church, a group that was instrumental in passing California’s now-defunct ban on gay marriage in 2008.

“There have been years of work that have led up to this,” Palmquist says of the bill announced March 4. “It’s a historic step to have a relatively conservative denomination like the Mormon church taking a stand and saying LGBT people should be treated fairly and equally.” The bill includes religious exemptions that would not hold churches or other religious organizations to the same bar as private businesses or individuals when it comes to employment and housing.

Supporters are also trying to further transgender rights in other arenas. A California bill would prohibit the state from doing business with companies that deny transgender workers benefits like healthcare coverage. A Rhode Island bill would prohibit conversion therapy that seeks to change the gender identity or sexual orientation of any resident under the age of 18. A measure in Illinois would secure a deceased transgender person’s right to have a funeral that respects their preferred “appearance, chosen name, and gender pronouns.”

And advocates like Widmer are doing what they can for transgender people outside the statehouse. She recalls sex-segregated bathrooms being traumatizing places when she began her transition from appearing male to appearing female. “In a woman’s restroom I might get called a man and yelled at, but while using a men’s restroom I might get called a faggot or a tranny and then beaten up,” she says. “It doesn’t seem like a controversial issue to me, it’s pretty simple. People need to pee.”

Photos: 25 Transgender People Who Influenced American Culture

Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox has used her growing celebrity as a star of the critically acclaimed Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, to become an outspoken leader of the trans rights movement, addressing crowds of thousands at schools and other forums around the country.Jason Merritt—Getty Images
Lana Wachowski
With her brother, Andy, Lana Wachowski has co-written, produced and directed Hollywood blockbusters like the Matrix triology, V for Vendetta and Cloud Atlas.Michael Sohn—DPA/AP
Kye Allums
Kye Allums became the first openly transgender athlete in NCAA Division 1, the top level of college athletics, when he played on the women's team at George Washington University in 2010. John Lamparski—Getty Images
Bruce Jenner Vanity Fair cover Caitlyn transgender
Caitlyn Jenner, made famous as an Olympic gold medalist in 1976 and later as a reality TV dad, appears as a woman for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair's June 2015 issue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Vanity Fair
Chelsea Manning Transgender
Chelsea Manning is an Army soldier who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act, after she leaked hundreds of classified documents to Wikileaks. U.S. Army/AP
Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Nebraska in 1993. His murder was a catalyst for a lobbying effort for hate crimes legislation and his life and death were the subject of the film Boys Don't Cry.AP
The electronic musician Wendy Carlos, formerly Walter, released Switched-On Bach in 1968, which won three Grammy awards and became one of the first classical albums to sell 500,000 copies. She went on to compose notable scores for films like A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron.
The electronic musician Wendy Carlos released Switched-On Bach in 1968, which won three Grammy awards and became one of the first classical albums to sell 500,000 copies. She went on to compose notable scores for films like A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron. Ebet Roberts—Getty Images
Since coming out publicly in a 2012 Rolling Stone article, the musician Laura Jane Grace has been a vocal advocate for trans acceptance. In 2014, her band Against Me! released the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues.
Since coming out publicly in a 2012 Rolling Stone article, the musician Laura Jane Grace has been a vocal advocate for trans acceptance. In 2014, her band Against Me! released the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Gary Miller—Getty Images
Carmen Carrera Transgender
Model and actress Carmen Carrera vaulted to reality TV fame after appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race. Nearly 50,000 people have signed an online petition asking Victoria's Secret to make her the company's first transgender "Angel."Danny Aarons—Newspix/Getty Images
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen, a former soldier, became a nationwide media sensation after having sex reassignment surgery in Denmark in 1952.Fred Morgan—New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images
Billy Tipton Transgender
The American jazz musician Billy Tipton became famous after his 1989 death when it was discovered that he had been assigned the female sex at birth.AP
The American public grew up knowing Bono as the daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, before he came out as a transgender man in 2009. Bono, who first came out as a lesbian in ’90s, has been an active LGBT rights advocate for decades, writing and making films about his experiences and using platforms like reality show Dancing With the Stars to talk about LGBT issues.
The American public grew up knowing Bono as the daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, before he came out as a transgender man in 2009. Bono, who first came out as a lesbian in ’90s, has been an active LGBT rights advocate for decades, writing and making films about his experiences and using platforms like reality show Dancing With the Stars to talk about LGBT issues.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne was the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on a prime time series, as love interest Carmelita on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money. In past decades, the majority of transgender characters have been played by non-transgender actors and often been portrayed in negative roles, like psychopathic killers or dead prostitutes.Charles Sykes—Invision/AP
Lynn Conway
The pioneering computer scientist and engineer Lynn Conway influenced a generation of computer chip designers and has worked at Xerox PARC, IBM, and DARPA.
Caroline Cossey
Caroline Cossey is a British actress best known for her role as a Bond girl in the movie For Your Eyes Only.Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Before she came out in 2014, the Serbian-born model was already blurring lines in the fashion world. As the androgynous male model and muse for big names like Marc Jacobs. In 2015, Pejic became the first transgender model to appear in American Vogue.
Before she came out in 2014, the Serbian-born model was already blurring lines in the fashion world as the androgynous male model and muse for big names like Marc Jacobs. In 2015, Pejic became the first transgender model to appear in American Vogue.Nicholas Hunt—Getty Images
Lana Lawless Transgender
The LPGA removed a requirement that golfers be "female at birth" after trans woman Lana Lawless sued for the right to compete in 2010.Ben Margot—AP
Fallon Fox
Fallon Fox became the first openly transgender fighter in mixed martial arts history when she came out in 2013.Sally Ryan—Zuma Press/Corbis
Beatie went public in 2008 as America’s first “pregnant father,” undergoing artificial insemination after his former wife proved infertile. The transgender man captured the nation’s attention after appearances on show’s such as Oprah, setting off cultural conversations about the social and legal status of transgender people in America. He has since had three children.
Beatie went public in 2008 as America’s first “pregnant father,” undergoing artificial insemination after his former wife proved infertile. The transgender man captured the nation’s attention after appearances on shows such as Oprah, setting off cultural conversations about the social and legal status of transgender people in America. He has since had three children.Chris Jackson—Getty Images
Janet Mock
Janet Mock, a transgender advocate and writer, published a best-selling memoir about her transition, Redefining Realness, in 2014 and hosts a MSNBC web talk show about pop culture.Fernando Leon—Getty Images
Mike Penner
Veteran LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner announced he was a "transsexual sportswriter" in a 2007 essay and wrote under a new byline, Christine Daniels, for nearly a year. After struggling with the challenges of living as a trans woman, Penner abandoned the name in 2008 and returned to living as a man, before committing suicide in 2009.Los Angeles Times/AP
Renee Richards Transgender
The pro tennis player Renee Richards won a landmark decision for transgender rights in 1977 when the New York Supreme Court ruled that she could compete in tournaments as a woman.Larry Busacca—Getty Images
Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rivera was present at the Stonewall uprising and remained a tireless advocate for trans people of color, as well as gays and lesbians, who were marginalized as the LGBT movement became more mainstream.Valerie Shaff—Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Geena Rocero was already a successful model before she gave a viral 2014 TED talk in which she came out publicly as transgender. “All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies,” she said. “Some people have the courage to break free.” Her advocacy organization, Gender Proud, works to empower transgender communities around the world.
Geena Rocero was already a successful model before she gave a viral 2014 TED talk in which she came out publicly as transgender. “All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies,” she said. “Some people have the courage to break free.” Her advocacy organization, Gender Proud, works to empower transgender communities around the world.Santiago Felipe—Getty Images
Jenna Talackova
Jenna Talackova fought a legal battle to become the first openly transgender candidate to compete in Miss Universe Canada in 2012, after initially being rejected because of her gender status.Aaron Vincent Elkaim—AP

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