Bathroom bills and other laws , discussion thread

[Pat]

But we should not allow men to be treated as women legally with no basis, part of the time, whenever it's convenient to them. That is exactly what the legal language that the community is pushing for does.

Actually, the law in Massachusetts, which I think should be a model for other states, Does this: first, it leaves the selection of rest room / locker room to the individual as it has been up until this fight started. If there is a challenge, then the individual can cite their history with gender identity as justification. The law required the Mass Commission Against Discrimination to write guidelines that can be used in these cases (again, very smart in my opinion.) They say:

In most situations arising in employment, housing, mortgage services and places of public accommodation,
it will not be appropriate to request documentation of an individual’s gender identity. In the limited
circumstances where it is necessary, an individual’s gender identity may be demonstrated by any evidence that
the gender identity is sincerely held as a part of the person’s core identity. The evidence that the Commission
will review in cases alleging gender identity discrimination includes, but is not limited to, medical history,
medical/psychiatric care or treatment of the gender-related identity; consistent and uniform assertion of the
gender-related identity or any other evidence that one’s gender-related identity is sincerely held as part of one’s
core identity; provided, however, that gender-related identity shall not be asserted for any improper purpose.

That last part is very important -- it provides that gender identity cannot be falsely asserted (like Mike Huckabee's famous assertion that he'd claim to be transgender so he could shower in the girl's locker room,) nor, even if the claim to gender identity is true, can it be used to do something otherwise improper (voyerism, public exposure, etc. -- the things that get the anti-TG people worked up.) This arguably doesn't help the deeply-closeted folks, but it's hard to imagine scenarios where a deeply-closeted person is going into public restrooms.

There's quite a bit more to it and I encourage people who are interested to have a look at MCAD's guidelines (http://www.mass.gov/mcad/docs/gender...e-12-05-16.pdf) if they're interested. There's also a guidance document from the AG's office that's pretty good reading: http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/policy/...ons-9-1-16.pdf