Since so many of you are interested in the news about Colorado's new public bathroom law I thought you might want to read more about it. Here are a few places you can go for more information:
Focus on the Family Action
Catholic Online
And for you lawyer types who like to read the original verbiage (Anonymous Jeff), here is the link for the bill.
And to answer the question where should a transgender person go to the bathroom? I agree with Melissa: In the bathroom for which you have the equipment. Or one of the private family bathrooms that are popping up just about everywhere would be even better.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
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2 comments:
Okay, I read the bill. Where in the world does this bill say men must be allowed to use women's restrooms?
I assume the hoopla is in reference to Section 6, which prohibits discrimination with respect to places of public accommodation. To read this section as allowing men to use the women's restroom is quite a stretch. It says nothing of the kind. If a court interprets this language as requiring that outcome, well, that's just ridiculous.
This is one of those examples where activist groups spin wild scenerios (purported to be fact) to demonize groups of people they don't like and to whip up public outrage in the name of protecting the women and children. It's ashame. There are legitimate public policy concerns about extending civil rights laws to sexual orientation, but fear of gay men invading the women's public restroom is not one of them.
jeff
For those who care about the actual bill (not the fictional bill reported by conservative activist groups), the Colorado legislation extends its anti-discrimination laws to sexual orientation (i.e., you can't deny a loan on the basis of the person's sexuality, you can't refuse to sell your house to a gay couple because they're gay...or black, or a woman, or an Arab). Section 6 applies to places of public accommodation (a store, hospital, swimming pool, park, musuem, library, educational institution and, yes, public bathrooms). The provision says you can't restrict access to these places on the basis of sexual orientation (among the other protected groups). In other words, you can't have hetrosexual-only public bathrooms. This is a far cry from saying men have to be allowed to use the women's restroom.
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