Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

The bathroom scare: 'Public bathrooms just won't be safe anymore'
First of two parts
by Dana Rudolph, Keen News Service
2011-08-03

This article shared 6116 times since Wed Aug 3, 2011
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


A right-wing group in Massachusetts has launched a new ad campaign using an old scare tactic—the fear of sexual predators in public bathrooms. The aim is not to shore up security in public restrooms. It's to destroy a bill to prohibit discrimination against people based on their gender identity.

The campaign dubs the non-discrimination legislation as "The Bathroom Bill." However, while the ad is running in Massachusetts, similar bathroom scare tactics have failed to stop non-discrimination bills in two other states recently. Also, in two other states where gender identity bills failed recently, several transgender advocates say it was political maneuvering that played the more significant role in the loss.

The Massachusetts Family Institute ( MFI ) radio ad begins with the sounds of a playground and the voice of a little girl calling out to tell her mother that she'll be right back. Then another woman tells the mother, "You know, pretty soon, you won't want her to go into a bathroom by herself anymore."

The mother reacts with surprise, and the woman tells her about "The Bathroom Bill" that the state legislature is "about to pass."

"It lets men use women's bathrooms," she says, "to somehow help transgender people….Public bathrooms just won't be safe anymore."

A narrator then says the bill "will open up all public restrooms and school locker rooms to anyone of either sex." He urges listeners to call their legislators and tell them to "vote no on The Bathroom Bill."

MFI launched the campaign July 12. It includes radio spots on Boston area news and talk radio stations as well as "creative online elements," according to a press release. MFI did not disclose the size of the advertising buy but said the length of the campaign would be determined by whether the bill passes out of committee.

The real title of the bill is the "Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights" and simply adds four words—"gender identity and expression"—to existing Massachusetts civil rights laws. Those laws currently prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, religion, and other characteristics in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit. And the bill would add the words "gender identity or expression" to the state's hate crime law.

The act defines "gender identity and expression" as "a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual's physiology or assigned sex at birth."

Interestingly, current Massachusetts law does not bar a man from using a women's public restroom or a woman from using a men's public restroom. There are laws that prohibit lewdness, "open and gross conduct," and indecent exposure, among other behaviors, and those laws could be used against a person entering a public restroom to harass or assault a person of the opposite sex, according to the state attorney general's office.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley sent a letter July 20 to the Massachusetts House Judiciary Committee, where the bill now sits, expressing her "strong support" for it and directly addressing the MFI's ads. She said the MFI Bathroom Bill ads "mischaracterize the bill to foster fear and bigotry."

The safety and privacy of all people in restrooms and locker rooms would remain the same, she wrote, noting that the bill "only increases our ability to prosecute criminal conduct and protect the civil rights of all, and does nothing to restrict our ability to protect victims of any crimes."

She said her office knows of no instance when someone has tried to use gender identity or expression protections "as a defense to claims of criminal conduct or violation of privacy" in any jurisdictions that have passed similar laws. And the bill, she added, does not extend any new protections to sex offenders, as some opponents have claimed.

The Massachusetts gender identity bill has been introduced twice before. In 2008, it sat in the House Judiciary Committee without getting a vote. In 2010, it failed to pass as an amendment to the House budget bill.

Although MFI ran similar ads in 2010, Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition ( MTPC ) , said he didn't think they were a factor in that bill's failure. He blames a lack of education around transgender issues, saying many legislators assumed gender identity and expression were already covered in non-discrimination laws.

However, Scott called MFI's "Bathroom Bill" ads "inflammatory" and "dehumanizing." A greater problem, he said, is the harassment of transgender people in bathrooms.

According to a 2009 study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, 53 percent of a survey group of transgender people across the country reported having been "verbally harassed or disrespected in a place of public accommodation." In Massachusetts, which is considered a leader in protecting the rights of LGBT people, the number was 58 percent.

Fifteen states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Iowa, Oregon, Washington and Nevada—plus the District of Columbia and 136 cities and counties, currently include gender identity and expression in their non-discrimination laws.

Ten states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Vermont—plus the District of Columbia, have added crimes motivated by a person's actual or perceived gender identity and expression to their hate crimes laws.

The federal government has provided some leadership in this area. In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes motivated by actual or perceived gender or gender identity. However, that law covers only federal crimes.

And at the end of May, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued guidance to all executive departments and agencies, concerning the use of employee restrooms. The guidance stated that, once a federal employee "has begun living and working full-time in the gender that reflects his or her gender identity, agencies should allow access to restrooms and ( if provided to other employees ) locker room facilities consistent with his or her gender identity."

Part two: Public restrooms have been the target of scare tactics used against a number of civil rights movements, not just LGBT people.

�2011 by Keen News Service. All rights reserved.


This article shared 6116 times since Wed Aug 3, 2011
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Lambda Legal Launches "Speak OUT" awareness campaign uplifting trans, nonbinary voices
2024-03-28
--From a press release. VIDEO BELOW - (NEW YORK, NY — March 28, 2024) In advance of Transgender Day of Visibility, Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal nonprofit working to achieve full equal rights for LGBTQ people and everyone living with ...


Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97
2024-03-22
series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

Almost 8% of U.S. residents identify as LGBTQ+
2024-03-16
The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase. LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition'
2024-03-15
Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SPORTS Red Stars prepare to kick off NWSL season against Utah Royals
2024-03-15
It's been a busy winter for the Red Stars, and it's time to put their work to the test. Following a last place finish in the 2023 NWSL season, Chicago has had an active offseason transforming ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

UPDATE: Nex Benedict's death ruled a suicide; family responds
2024-03-13
A medical examiner's report concluded that the cause of death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict (he/they) was suicide, media reports confirmed. Benedict—a 16-year-old transgender student—died Feb. 8, a day after ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.