Thursday, January 12, 2012
Legislature Tennessee Republicans Try to Kick Transgender People Out of Public Restrooms
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 1:16 PM
That puts transgender people in a quandary, since it's legally impossible for them to change their sex on their birth certificates in Tennessee. At Daily Kos, they're wondering what our legislators think they are accomplishing, a question we have asked ourselves a lot lately.
The purpose of the bill is entirely unclear unless they are just trying to erase people who are transgender and stigmatize them permanently as sexual predators who want to prey on unsuspecting victims in public accommodations. The bill seems to be trying to criminalize gender variance - not something that's unheard of. And it's obvious that there is no way to enforce this if it becomes law. They can't possibly employ bathroom police all across the state of Tennessee to make sure that someone going into a female bathroom possesses a birth certificate proving they have the requisite body parts for that bathroom and that they have had those same parts since birth.
Legislative leaders have claimed they will stick to important issues this session for a change and prove Republicans are serious adults capable of governing responsibly. So much for that.
Update: The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is already out with a presser condemning this bill, which the group has dubbed the Bathroom Harassment Act. Here's the release:
Bathroom Harassment Act is a New Low for TennesseeThe Second Session of the 107th Tennessee General Assembly convened on Tuesday, and it did not take long for the members to set the bar lower than ever before in introducing bad legislation.
Just a little over 48 hours ago, the Bathroom Harassment Act (SB 2282/HB 2279) was filed by two Hamilton County Republicans, Senator Bo Watson of Hixson and Representative Richard Floyd of Chattanooga.
The Bathroom Harassment Act restricts access to public restrooms and public dressing rooms designated by sex to members of that particular sex. Using the person's birth certificate, a person would face a Class C Misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $50.
The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition feels that while this bill is a direct attack on the rights of Tennessee's transgender community, transgender people would not be the only people harassed under this bill should it become law. It would affect lots of other gender variant and gender non conforming people who do not necessarily identify as trans. Furthermore, it would criminalize plumbers and cleaning personnel who operate in restrooms the opposite of their birth gender.
The bill would also affect families who take their children with them into restrooms in shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, and sporting events. Are we now going to arrest the parents, or children, or both, for violating this new law?
Tennessee also has many people who visit the state to enjoy our many tourist sites, from Dollywood to Graceland, as well as to transfer at Tennessee airports in Memphis and Nashville. If any of them wish to use a restroom while they are in the state and they do not have their birth certificates with them to prove identity, are we now going to arrest them?
We are also curious to see how Senator Watson and Representative Floyd intend to set up this new Bathroom Identification bureacracy. Who will be responsible for checking everyone's birth certificates? If a person does not carry their birth certificate with them, will they be denied access to a facility? And how do they intend to pay for this new Big Government agency in the bathroom stalls? Do they propose raising taxes, or will they seek to cut the budgets of superflous agencies like Department of Education or Department of Health? Does this mean that doctors, nurses, and teachers are less important than Bathroom stall monitors?
There are also serious Constitutional questions surrounding this bill, since the Fourth Amendment protects persons "from unreasonable searches and seizures."
While there have been many attempts to scare people about transgender people using bathrooms, including a well circulated video previously used in anti-transgender campaigns in Florida and Michigan, the only documented incidents all show the transgender person as the victims, not the perpatrators of the abuse. The April 2011 beating of Chrissy Lee Polis at a Baltimore McDonald's led to charges of Hate Crimes in Maryland against the two women who beat Ms. Polis. In Tennessee, they would probably be hired as supervisors in the new Tennessee Bathroom Security Agency.
We feel this bill is the latest in a growing string of embarrassing bills in Tennessee.
We urge all of you to contact Senator Watson (615-741-3227 or sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov) and Representative Floyd (615-741-2746 or rep.richard.floyd@capitol.tn.gov) and express your opposition to the Bathroom Harassment Act and ask them to withdraw it immediately.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
Perhaps this law should be welcomed. By forcing the issue, the Lege is virtually inviting a lawsuit that will become test case. The law will not survive a court test, and in its anti-gay zeal the General Ass. will have helped bring about a precedent in establishing the rights of transgendered people.
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Glad they are focusing on such important issues! Thanks, legislature, for once again making Tennessee a laughingstock. Looking forward to the Daily Show segment.
Here's a copy of the email I sent to Sen. Bo Watson:
Hon. Bo Watson:
My name is Alex Perez, a resident of the Germantown area of Nashville. I am contacting you to share my opinion in regards to SB 2282.
With so many important things to deal with like the economy, jobs, etc, your priority is to fine a drag queen for peeing sitting down? Seriously? If this bill makes it to law, are we gonna have now the Potty Police enforcing it with crotch checks?
As a former registered Republican and a TN resident for over 15 years, I am furious and more than ashamed that you and your party have turned into ignorant, mean-spirited, hateful assholes for the world to see!
How do you sleep at night?
Alex Perez
Nashville, TN 37208
The witch-hunt mentality of some of our political leaders in this state makes me ashamed to claim I'm a Tennessean. The ridiculousness of this bill speaks for itself and shows just how far a politician can take a 'what if' situation and turn it into fodder for national press! Unlike some members of your Republican party, transgendered individuals do not troll restrooms looking for sexual favors, to harass or corrupt anyone. For goodness sake, let them piss and shit in peace!
If you got a dick go to the mens room. period . bunch of damn weirdos just trying to push their shit on normal people
Yawn... I used to actually like Tennessee, but come on, this is so old fashioned it's kind of sickening. I'm glad I live in a state that actually has modern views and laws protecting the diversity that this country offers.
I really don't know what to say. Seems, as always, there is a controversy between gender and sex, and the gender variant people are once again the ones to pay the price. 300 years ago, it was the Irish. Then it was the African Americans. Then the Gays and Lesbians. Now it's the trans community. Serious people, please learn from your mistakes. You will be doomed to repeat this until you do. Yeesh
Alex,
Where I live, a drag queen would use the mens bathroom since they identify as a male and live their everyday life as a male. A transsexual is not a drag queen and there is quite a large difference. I'm sure a lot of people appreciate you writing to your Senator and I think its wonderful that you did, but making trans people look like caricatures of women might be more detrimental than helpful.
That said, this new law is so disturbing I thought it was a joke at first. I feel for my friends in TN. This shouldn't even be something people consider. While I can see where they might try to say, "This law would help prevent rape in the bathrooms by making it a crime just to be in the wrong one." It won't. People being vigilant and aware of their surroundings will help prevent rape. What happens when some poor woman who is less than feminine comes into the women's restroom and doesn't have her birth certificate? Will she be arrested and slapped with a fine? And let's not even get started on what happens if people DO start carrying around their birth certificates for proof and people lose them somewhere. Surges in identity theft, etc, etc. The damage this law could cause if it went into effect far outweigh the so-called benefits.
Kae McLaren,
I know the difference between drag queen and transgender very well - I'm not ignorant and I'm very involved within the gay community. If you had paid attention to the sarcasm and smart-ass tone of my writting, you'd know that I purposedely selected those words to make a statement. Presenting the idea of them criminalizing the silliest and somewhat not-so-serious image of a drag queen peeing sitting down, enphasizes how silly, stupid and unnecessary the bill is. If it sounds mean to do so to a drag queen; imagine how awful it would be to a transgender person. Of course it is a serious issue. But sometimes you have to go down to their tiny level of mentality to get a message across. My two cents.
I don't think Tony Paredes' profound insight is fully appreciated here. A simpleton's simplicity is his genius. - "It's dicks on one side, 'gyners on the other, all the other freaks can just shit in the woods or move the hell outa America, by gawd."
Who is checking out everybody's junk by the way? To make sure everybody is kosher. I volunteer Rep. Richard Floyd and Senator Bo Watson. Tony Paredes is an alternate.
And Maddison's fantasy that her state harbors no racists or stupids, I'm calling bullshit on that. Bullshit on the spelling of her name too.
Fellow Conservative Citizen,
I urge you to support 2282. First we get the homosexuals, then the Jehovah's Witnesses and Jews, and finally, we can again exclude the colored from public life and return America to its core values.
Sincerely,
Jonathan White, Grandmaster
BMCC Membership Committee
Psh. It's not gonna stop me from using the restroom. I go where I feel comfortable. Being a Trans-Woman. It isn't exactly easy to go into a Mens restroom, whip out my junk & pee. It's a lot different than what people think. It really irritates me that people would try to pass this kind of law. It doesn't matter what you have between your legs. You are who you are. Whether you're male, female, inbetween, or whatever. It shouldn't matter. What should matter is what you identify as. I could understand where people would feel uncomfortable finding out that a genetic male or female is using the restroom but who cares? You don't live there, you don't sleep there, you go there to use the fucking restroom. Yeah, seriously thinking of moving to Canada. I am definitely appauled by this state & I despise the fact that I was born & raised here my whole life so far. I doubt the ignorance will stop. Next people will be bashing Sponges. lol Farfetched' but still. It's rediculous. Things like this. Make our country look horrible.
Would Floyd want a former female who had been transgendered by operation to a man - with facial hair, gruff voice and a new penis, to be using the females' bathroom? Or a curvaceous post-operative transgendered woman, dressed as such, with real breasts and a new vagina to stand next to him at the urinal, just because she was born as a male?
Birth certificates show the new sex, so how would he identify who is male or female at birth and who isn't? By DNA certificates, or compulsory genital inspections?
Discomfiture is one thing, and is a clearly matter of getting used to for many, but Floyd seems to be fearing something more. While he's not directly alleging this, I think he believes that transgender women, born as male are going to be molesting women, and vice versa.
This dinosaur needs education and fast.
I am not sure where this idea came from. You are basically spending important money and time on frivolous issues. It simply seems that you are using your job to promote "witch hunts" for something that otherwise should be a private/personal matter.
I personally hate using public restrooms that have multiple stalls. I could still care less who is in the stall next to me.
It would be nice to see our Tennessee representatives not make a mockery of us. Please put your time and our money to better use.
Thanks in advance for reading my email.
Wayne Mixon
Chattanooga, TN
if anyone approached me in a female bathroom and told me i dont belong there. STOMP. Yes I would stomp on you lack of humanity.
Now this is discrimination against Transsexuals!
A wake up call for everyone!
You might be next.
Derek, the only problem with the Birth Certificate in TN is that you can't get the gender marker changed at all. Once you are born and the Dr says you are female it will always stay that way. That is another TN law that is against transgender folks because they can never get it changed to match their physical appearance.
yo know this bill is just plain wrong and should be abandoned as soon as it hits committee room. this bill is so egregious that it defies logic, but most important it is expanding government to a who new level. so for all of you small government conseriatives this is your chance to stop big government at it's worst.
hello all
the republicans wonder why they lost the white house its no wonder to me why they lost.
will they require all to carry a birth certificate in both bathrooms.JOANIE
