Alabama state Senator Phil Williams has
pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that targets
the transgender community.
Williams' bill, titled the Alabama
Privacy Act, would prohibit transgender people from using the
bathroom of their choice. It would also require the presence of
attendants in mixed-gender public bathrooms.
The bill requires: “Bathrooms, or
changing facilities that are designed to be used by multiple persons
at once, irrespective of their gender, that are staffed by an
attendant stationed at the door of each rest room to monitor the
appropriate use of the rest room and answer any questions or concerns
posed by users.”
The bill calls for fines ranging from
$2,000 to $3,500 to be imposed on public institutions that do not
meet the requirement.
According to AL.com,
the Alabama judiciary committee will consider the bill next month.
Alabama is among a handful of states
gearing up to debate the issue as lawmakers return to work.
Republicans in Texas
and Virginia
introduced similar bills last week, and several other states are
looking at the issue.
The political calculus for backing such
bills is difficult to comprehend given the backlash North Carolina
received after Republicans there passed House Bill 2, the first state
law in the nation to restrict transgender bathroom use. The law was
unpopular with the public (only
32 percent supported it) and the governor who signed it, Pat
McCrory, blamed it for his re-election loss.
(Related: NC
Gov. Roy Cooper reiterates commitment to repealing anti-LGBT law in
inaugural address.)