PFOX: Proposed Md. ‘Gender Identity’ Bill Would Have The Effect of Legalizing Indecent Exposure to Minors

PFOX News Advisory:  November 8, 2007

Contact:  Regina Griggs, Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX)

703-360-2225  PFOX@pfox.org   www.pfox.org
 
New “Gender Identity” Law Would Have The Effect of Legalizing Indecent Exposure to Minors

‘Weekend Transgenders’ to Use Women’s Shower Rooms and Bathrooms?
 
Montgomery County, MD — A bill before the Montgomery County, Maryland Council puts girls and women at risk by opening women’s restrooms and locker rooms to men who dress as women, warns Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX).  The bill virtually eliminates gender distinctions by allowing Montgomery County residents to choose if they are male or female even when the choice conflicts with their biological sex. 

The bill, slated for a vote on Tuesday, Nov. 13, would add ‘gender identity’ as a protected class for ‘transgenders.’  It would guarantee the right to use public facilities consistent with the person’s gender identity “publicly and exclusively expressed or asserted.”  No sex change is necessary.
 
As an organization that aids former transgenders, PFOX can attest that many transgenders prefer to dress and act publicly and exclusively as a woman or man on weekends and then as their birth gender during the work week.  These are known as “weekend transgenders.”  Pedophiles could also put on a dress and assert they are exclusively female in order to get near naked children in swimming pool locker rooms. 

When asked if the proposed law would apply to weekend transgenders, Council member Duchy Trachtenberg refused to answer, instead insisting that “transgender people face serious discrimination … in public accommodations.” 

“There’s a good reason why transgenders face ‘serious discrimination’ when using shower rooms and toilets that don’t apply to their gender,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX.  “It’s because they don’t belong there.  What parents want their daughter to use the public pool’s locker room with a naked man who cross-dresses full-time or part-time?  This bill in effect legalizes indecent exposure to minors in these kinds of situations.” 

Reponding to the concerned mother of a ten-year-old girl, councilmember George Levanthal admitted that he “cannot absolutely put to rest your concern that girls might find themselves in a locker or dressing room in the presence of a person who expresses or asserts herself as a woman but who still has male genitals.” 

The bill also violates a woman’s privacy because she would have to undress in front of men.  Challenging these men because they are in the women’s locker rooms would constitute harassment.

The Non-discrimination, Gender Identity Bill 23-07 states: “Any place of public accommodation…must not…make any distinction based on gender identity” and defines “gender identity” as “an individual’s actual or perceived gender.” 

“Some men perceive themselves to be women when they’re actually men and vice-versa,” Griggs said.  “This bill feeds into that false image they have of themselves.  The compassionate answer here is not to open the door of women’s bathrooms to those afflicted with a gender identity disorder (GID), but to open the doors wide to mental health facilities that treat GID people.  We don’t help our neighbor by exacerbating their mental illness.  We point them toward a way out.”

Including “gender identity” at all under the protections of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has proven so controversial in Congress that it was dropped from the bill by its openly homosexual chief sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Montgomery County’s proposed gender identity bill also applies to employment and does not exempt schools, churches, or religious organizations.  The bill is sponsored by Council members Duchy Trachtenberg, Valerie Ervin, and Marc Elrich. 

“In the name of decency and common sense, the Council needs to reject this reckless proposal,” Griggs said.  “Women all over Montgomery County are upset about this and rightfully so.  This bill is a giant leap backwards for basic women’s rights.” 

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Read PFOX’s letter to the Council at:  http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=212#212
The Council’s email response can be viewed at: http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=210#210
 

Council members can be contacted at:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/contact.asp
PFOX leads the nation in providing outreach, education, and public awareness in support of families and the ex-gay community.  They can be reached via their website at www.pfox.org
A copy of this press release is online at http://pfox.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=213#213