It may be a New Year, but the same old battle over bathrooms is starting all over again.
A Republican lawmaker in Virginia is so concerned over which bathrooms transgender people use, including children at school, that he is proposing a law that would fine them $50 each time they enter a restroom that doesn't match their "anatomical sex."
House Bill 663, proposed by Delegate Mark Cole of the state's House of Representatives, defines anatomical sex as "the physical condition of being male or female, which is determined by a person's anatomy." It would require all restrooms on property owned or leased by the state "solely be used by individuals whose anatomical sex matches such gender designation."
It would also require that school districts in the state enforce similar restrictions on restrooms, locker rooms and showers.
The fine of $50 could be written by "any law-enforcement officer."
The bill does not specify how "anatomical sex" will be confirmed by the law-enforcement officer, but civil rights advocates say there's really only one way to be sure.
"[A]dults would be required to inspect children’s genitals before they use the bathroom," activist Tim Peacock wrote on the Peacock Panache website.
The proposal would also allow schools to create a single-stall unisex bathroom or shower for students who request it.
The proposal comes just months after a transphobic campaign over toilets was used to defeat a civil rights measure in Houston. It may also be a response to the well-publicized legal battle between a Virginia transgender teen and his school district over the right to use the boys' room.
"It is sad to see the number of bills introduced this session targeted at ensuring that schools and other governmental agencies can purposely discriminate against transgender adults and children in Virginia," ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga said in a statement.
She called bills such as this one "nothing more than ineffective, mean-spirited efforts to deny LGBT people in Virginia their constitutional and human rights."
(h/t Raw Story)
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