Friday, January 08, 2016

Do You Think This Will Make A Difference?

There are more and more news media that are speaking out against the bathroom legislation.
Anti-transgender bills threaten people’s ability to fully participate in society
The Hill
By Timothy Wang, MPH and Sean Cahill. PhD
January 07, 2016

Over the last several years we’ve seen unprecedented progress in the cultural realm for transgender people. High profile transgender celebrities, such as Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner, have garnered unprecedented media attention. Movies and TV series like The Danish Girl and Transparent, which feature stories about transgender people, have not only increased the visibility of transgender people, but have also brought political attention to the transgender equality movement. Although there is no federal law that explicitly bans discrimination on the basis of gender identity, 17 states and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. In addition, more than 200 cities and municipalities have local ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

All this progress has catalyzed a backlash that threatens to not just stall the momentum of the transgender equality movement, but to put transgender people at heightened risk of harm.

In 2015, the state legislatures of Texas, Kentucky, Florida, Minnesota, and Missouri debated legislation―so called “bathroom bills”―that would restrict access to gendered public facilities, such as restrooms and locker rooms, based on an individual’s sex at birth rather than their gender identity. Last fall, in a move that generated headlines around the country, Houston voters repealed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity along with several other characteristics.
It seems like each state is trying to one up on the other states... “Oh your state is only fining them; well my state is going to lock them up! Yeah, well our state is offering a reward for turning in a Tranny!”

The article goes on to say…
Making matters even worse, the wording of some of the anti-transgender bills may potentially sanction aggression or harassment toward transgender people who are trying to access public restrooms. Texas bill, HB 1748, for example, would define sex based solely on chromosomal genotype and specifically place the responsibility of enforcing the law on the people maintaining the public facility in question, citing non-compliance as a felony. If such legislation passed, it could encourage owners of public facilities to harass people who are transgender or appear to be transgender for physical or genetic proof of sex before entering a bathroom.
And notice that each and everyone one of these bill have been introduced by a Republican legislator and even in Connecticut the Republican trying to pass bathroom amendments in 2011 and they even tried to have an amendment that required us to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

No comments:

Post a Comment