Arizona Bill Would Restrict Bathrooms by Birth Gender

[natina]

Arizona Bill Would Restrict Bathrooms by Birth Gender

Anti-transgender bill would fine violators up to $2.5K

(Newser) – Arizona's House will today debate a bill that would make it illegal to enter a public bathroom, shower, or dressing room designated for a gender not listed on your birth certificate. The bill is an apparent response to the anti-discrimination law Phoenix passed last week that would allow transgender people to use their preferred bathroom. The new bill's sponsor, Rep. John Kavanagh, says it's "unacceptable" for a man who merely "thinks of himself" as a woman to use their facilities. "If you're male, you stick to the men's room," he tells KPHO.

The bill would make using the wrong bathroom punishable by a fine of up to $2,500, AZ Family reports. The House Appropriations Committee will take up the bill today. The bill has sparked outrage from transgender activists; Equality Arizona released a statement yesterday calling it "a disgusting invasion of privacy," one that could make criminals of women who duck into men's bathrooms to avoid long lines, the Arizona Daily Sun reports. (Kavanagh says police will "use discretion" in those circumstances.) Laurie Roberts at the Arizona Republic decries the bill as ridiculous. "Forget about showing your birth certificate to vote," she writes. "You soon may need to tote the thing around in order to use the bathroom."



http://www.newser.com/story/164767/a...th-gender.html

[Tits McButts]

This shall not pass! $2,500 is a ludicrous amount to fine anyone for using the "incorrect" restroom.

[Ms.Stepford]

Yeah, because I'm totally gonna go in the men's room and sit down on the toilet in front of the bar full of guys who've been drooling over my ass since I walked in.

[TatianaSummer]

Yeah, because I'm totally gonna go in the men's room and sit down on the toilet in front of the bar full of guys who've been drooling over my ass since I walked in.

I second that! LOL
Yes I will also go in after you and tell th guys we are taking over their facilities.

[Ms.Stepford]

Yup. Sorry gents, but we've gotta commandeer the room for official lady business.

[GroobySteven]

I've said this before, in principle, I don't think someone should be able to use a bathroom other than that of their birth gender, just because they want to or state that they have the right.

It's all very well for you girls who are true transsexuals, live as girls, identify fully as woman and have either had hormone therapy or surgery but what about those that will also demand the same rights but are just transvestites or crossdressers (doing it for a sexual kick). With no way for the establishments or the authorities to prove that anyone is a transsexual (it's unable to be proved on looks alone as we all know some transsexuals who look like men in a dress), then they have to have a law that draws the line somewhere. I don't know what AZ law is on ID's but perhaps if you do have an ID which says "female" then that would seem a good way to differentiate.

The easiest way to manage this, would be to have seperate Male, Female and Unisex bathrooms. Most coffee shops have one bathroom which is shared and all shopping malls and public establishments usually have a disabled/baby room which is unisex.

This may sound harsh but I don't believe that women and young girls should be put at risk or embarressed by people using the women's restrooms who clearly should not be there.

[Ms.Stepford]

I don't know what AZ law is on ID's but perhaps if you do have an ID which says "female" then that would seem a good way to differentiate.

That should actually work, if Arizona has similar policies regarding gender marker on licenses and non-driver IDs as New York. If you're under a doctor's care and that doctor will state that "one gender predominates over the other," that's the gender they'll put on your ID. I think very few part-timers are going to get 'F's on their licenses.

Some CD/TVs will still get away with using the ladies,' without causing a disturbance, and I guess if they do, they do. I've had an 'F' on my ID for a few years, but I've never actually been asked.

The fact that they expect people to carry their birth certificates around is really stupid. I think they'll realized that when the vital records department is overrun by increasing numbers of people who've lost them and need replacements -including many natal women who have some questionable masculine features and have to deal with embarrassing confrontations with overzealous shop managers and law enforcement.

This legislation is flawed on so many levels, and should it pass, it won't last long. I can't believe that these lawmakers can't think it through.

[Wendy Summers]

I've said this before, in principle, I don't think someone should be able to use a bathroom other than that of their birth gender, just because they want to or state that they have the right.

It's all very well for you girls who are true transsexuals, live as girls, identify fully as woman and have either had hormone therapy or surgery but what about those that will also demand the same rights but are just transvestites or crossdressers (doing it for a sexual kick). With no way for the establishments or the authorities to prove that anyone is a transsexual (it's unable to be proved on looks alone as we all know some transsexuals who look like men in a dress), then they have to have a law that draws the line somewhere. I don't know what AZ law is on ID's but perhaps if you do have an ID which says "female" then that would seem a good way to differentiate.

The easiest way to manage this, would be to have seperate Male, Female and Unisex bathrooms. Most coffee shops have one bathroom which is shared and all shopping malls and public establishments usually have a disabled/baby room which is unisex.

This may sound harsh but I don't believe that women and young girls should be put at risk or embarressed by people using the women's restrooms who clearly should not be there.

But it's NEVER clean no matter what.

I developed breasts at puberty. In the days when my public persona was "male" I would have issues being in the men's room. Even standing at a urinal, people would double check the door. On a few occasions, I actually feared for my safety. I would have KILLED for single occupancy restrooms, But most building don't have them -- particularly in areas where real estate is at a premium.

In those days I never would have dreamed of using the ladies because I publicly "identified" as male. By the time I transitioned, NJ had begun allowing gender marker changes in licenses. But had I transitioned a year earlier I wouldn't have had that option... and therein lies the problem with your thoughts.

In some states, it is not possible to alter your gender marker without SRS. A passable transwoman, with no options to alter her IDs is at great personal risk walking into a men's room.

A transwoman is more likely to be harmed in a men's room than a woman be harmed by a transsexual in a ladies room. Despite all the fear mongering on this issue, there is not a single documented case of a transsexual molesting anyone in a ladies room.

[amberskyi]

Never been asked but having my gender marker recently changed on my id is a small relief.

[scroller]

... they have to have a law that draws the line somewhere. I don't know what AZ law is on ID's but perhaps if you do have an ID which says "female" then that would seem a good way to differentiate.

Maybe you're joking or typed too quickly? Because that's completely ridiculous. No one has to have a law for who goes in a bathroom. Societies have worked fine for millennia without that. We have too many laws already, an overly punitive a culture, too many people in prison, and $2500 is an batshit insane penalty for something like that.

Sometimes my girlfriend ducks in a men's room if there's no space in the ladies. Sometimes I knock on an empty women's room if the men's room has no towels. The idea that ID's are going to be checked before entering bathrooms is so laughably infeasible... anyone who thinks that's going to happen all over a state has just lost touch with reality.