Bathrooms

 

What does Bill 23-07 Say about Bathrooms now?

 

Bathrooms are "facilities" at public accommodations. After Bill 23-07, the public accommodations non-discrimination code reads:

 

"An ..agent..of any place of public accommodation in the County must not, with respect to the accommodation: …..make any distinction with respect to …gender identity in connection with… use of any facility .."

 

=> Accommodations are parks, pools, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, motels, bus...

=> Facilities are bathrooms.

 

Read the full unabbreviated code on public accommodations

 

The county council’s internal discussion of Bill 23-07 and specifically the bathroom issue (read the Nov 13th memo) indicated that if Bill 23-07 were "silent" on the issue of bathrooms, the Human Rights Commission would:

 

"if Bill 2307 were silent on the issue of public facilities they would interpret the bill as allowing a person to use facilities based on that person’s gender identity."

 

Gender identity is defined in Bill 23-07 as:

 

“Gender identity means an individual’s actual or perceived gender, including a person’s gender-related appearance, expression, image, identity, or behavior, whether or not those gender-related characteristics differ from the characteristics customarily associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

 

Wait a minute …. Didn’t they pull the bathroom amendment?

 

The council had specifically added an amendment to expressly ALLOW transgenders access to the bathrooms of the sex they identify with – thus they expressly added language to allow transsexual males access to female bathrooms. They did delete this amendment. Read the deleted amendment here….

 

However, without specific language to exclude access to bathrooms, conflicts will be determined by the Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Commission has already stated they will allow access to bathrooms based on gender identity.

 

But I wrote the council, and they said there is an exception for “distinctly private and personal accommodations”

 

Read the code. Public accommodations and their facilities are covered by Bill 23-07. Private accommodations and their facilities are exempt from Bill 23-07. "Distinctly private and personal" does not mean bathrooms; it refers to the type of accommodation. Bathrooms are not accommodations, they are facilities at accommodations. The Boy Scouts, for instance, uses the “distinctly private and personal” clause to claim exemption from sexual orientation non-discrimination laws and ban gay scout leaders, as a private accommodation. Your house is also a distinctly private and personal accommodation. Rio Sport and Health used the "distinctly private and personal accommodation" clause to claim they were exempt from the law as a membership-only facility, and thus a private accommodation.

 

But the council says it doesn’t cover bathrooms and never has...

 

The Council is claiming ..."The pre-existing County law prohibiting discrimination in the use of public accommodations never applied to public bathrooms or locker rooms."

 

If you believe this Council statement, with all due respect, you would also have to accept that the county discrimination code, written 20 years ago to enforce racial desegregation, never intended to racially de-segregate bathrooms. The council simply added "gender identity" to the public accommodations code. The Council appears to be deliberately trying to mislead the public. The media may fall for this but Montgomery County Citizens are smarter.

 

Want the full legal scoop on the Bathrooms?

 

Read the detailed letter to pastor, or the AFF legal challenge, for a full discussion. You can also peruse Leggett’s letter to Ruth Jacobs, and CRG’s response.

 

AUTHORITY: MARYLAND CITIZENS FOR A RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT CORPORATION-REPEAL BILL 23-07; RUTH M. JACOBS TREASURER.