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Editorial: Don't legalize discrimination

 
Published March 6, 2015

It sounds like a joke, but it's no laughing matter. The so-called bathroom bill making its way through committees in the Florida Legislature is an attempt to discriminate against transgender people by preventing them from using single-sex facilities that don't match their biological gender. Lawmakers should abandon this ridiculous and offensive effort.

Sponsored by Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, the bill (HB 583) would make it a misdemeanor for a person to use a public facility such as a bathroom, locker room or dressing room that is designated for the opposite sex. Artiles' bill comes a few months after Miami-Dade County commissioners passed a broad ordinance that prohibits discrimination against transgender men and women in employment, housing and public accommodations. Citing public safety concerns, Artiles has said that ordinance will allow criminals, particularly males, to enter women's facilities with malicious intent.

The bathroom bill plays on unfounded fears and absurdly gins up a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. It also insults and discriminates against transgender people, whose safety could be compromised by forcing them to enter facilities that don't match their gender identity. Apparently, the fight for safety in single-sex facilities is a partisan one, as nine Republicans voted this week to advance the bill and four Democrats opposed it. Other lawmakers should take a stand for common sense and inclusion and put an end to this foolish proposal.