Virginia Republican Introduces Transgender 'Bathroom Bill'
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | January 05, 2017
A Virginia Republican lawmaker opposed to LGBT rights has introduced a bill that seeks to bar transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice and requires schools to out transgender students to their parents.
On Tuesday, Delegate Bob Marshall, a Republican from Prince William County, introduced House Bill 1612, which seeks to prohibit people from entering “a restroom or other facility designated for use by members of the opposite sex.” Known as the Physical Privacy Act, the bill would also require public school principals to notify a parent or guardian if a child outs himself or herself as transgender, which could include the child requesting to be recognized as the opposite sex, to be addressed by a name or pronoun inconsistent with his or her sex, or to use a restroom designated for the opposite sex of the child.
The proposed bill has been compared to North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2, which not only prohibited transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in many buildings, but also blocked cities and municipalities from enacting LGBT protections.
“[House Bill 2] has caused just incredible harm to the state of North Carolina,” said Cathryn Oakley of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, while speaking to reporters during a conference call about HB 1612.
“That is certainly something we don't want to see here in Virginia,” she added.
Unlike North Carolina's law, Marshall's proposal includes an enforcement provision that would allow a person to sue for physical or emotional distress caused by a transgender person using the facility he or she identifies with.
Marshall and Senator Stephen Newman are the co-authors of the state's voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. Fifty-seven percent of Virginia voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment. A federal judge in 2014 struck down the amendment as unconstitutional. The following year, the Supreme Court, in a related case, found that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
(Related: Del. Bob Marshall insists “sodomy is not a civil right” in explaining vote against gay judge.)
Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe pledged Thursday to veto House Bill 1612 if it reaches his desk.
(Related: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signs order banning LGBT discrimination among contractors.)