In a victory for LGBT civil rights, a discriminatory bill that tried to roll back protections for transgender individuals has died on the floor of the Washington State Senate today after being defeated by the narrowest of margins.
The militants who control the Senate Republican caucus, including Tim Eyman’s pals Doug Ericksen, Michael Baumgartner, Pam Roach, and Don Benton, tried to push through a bill (SB 6443) that would have repealed Washington State Human Rights Commission rules (codified as WAC 162–32-060) that allow transgender people to use washrooms and bathrooms consistent with the gender they identify with.
Ericksen and Baumgartner were successful in getting the bill through committee and onto the floor, but today, they were defeated when the bill came up for a vote.
Three Republicans broke away from their caucus to vote against the bill: Andy Hill, Steve Litzow, and Joe Fain, while one Democrat crossed over to vote for the bill (Jim Hargrove). That left the Republicans one vote shy of twenty-five, which is the threshold for passage of legislation in the Senate. SB 6443 is dead, and hopefully this is the last time a bill like this will even make it onto the Senate floor.
The roll call vote was as follows::
SB 6443
Gender seg. facility rules
Senate vote on 3rd Reading & Final Passage
2/10/2016Voting Yea: Senators Angel, Bailey, Baumgartner, Becker, Benton, Braun, Brown, Dammeier, Dansel, Ericksen, Hargrove, Hewitt, Honeyford, King, Miloscia, O’Ban, Padden, Parlette, Pearson, Rivers, Roach, Schoesler, Sheldon, Warnick
Voting Nay: Senators Billig, Carlyle, Chase, Cleveland, Conway, Darneille, Fain, Fraser, Frockt, Habib, Hasegawa, Hill, Hobbs, Jayapal, Keiser, Liias, Litzow, McAuliffe, McCoy, Mullet, Nelson, Pedersen, Ranker, Rolfes, Takko
NPI thanks the Senate Democratic caucus (minus Jim Hargrove — shame on you, Senator) and Republicans Andy Hill, Steve Litzow, and Joe Fain for their no votes. This bill would not have even received a vote in a Democratic-controlled Senate, but at least three Republicans stepped forward to prevent the Senate from passing this disgraceful, mean-spirited, and unnecessary discriminatory legislation.
“The people of our state value generosity over fear, abundance over scarcity. We value the whole person, no matter who they are,” said Senator Pramila Jayapal following the vote. “That was proven today when Senate Republican leadership brought a bill to the floor that would have rolled back the civil rights and basic safety protections for transgender Washingtonians, but it failed to pass.”
“I am a parent, and I know what it is to fear for the safety of my child. But the history of civil rights has always been tied to fear. The truth is, there is no reason to fear transgender individuals — they are our daughters, sons, sisters, brothers and neighbors. Most important, we should never give in to stereotypes or misconceptions that play on our fears and blind us to our own humanity.”
“In fact, if there is anyone who has something to fear it is transgender individuals themselves. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, transgender individuals experience ‘shockingly high levels of sexual abuse and assault’ – as high as 66 percent. That number increases for certain subgroups including transgender youth and people of color. That means a significant majority of this population is experiencing sexual, physical and other forms of violence.”
“I hope in the future we bring that issue up in the Senate, rather than voting on ways to add to the danger transgender Washingtonians already face every day,” Jayapal added. “I understand this is new territory for many of us, but the reality is these protections have been in practice for a decade without incident.
“The Senate took up the issue today of who we are as a state – are we a Washington that acts on fear, or values equality? Equality won out. That is Washington.”
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. I cannot let my wife or children go to the bathroom at Lowe’s or Home Depot or any movie theater nor any other bathroom that allows more than one person in without a locked door.
It is time to fire all of the [people] that have let this happen. They should all be forced out of office immediately! I will join the fight to stop this now!
This comment has been edited by NPI.
James, instead of going into a rage, you should read this very thoughtful op-ed by a parent of a transgender child:
These bills were introduced, I assume, in efforts to close the genital loopholes (sounds painful to me)in the decade-long antidiscrimination law. The legislators who introduced these bills, as well as those who voted in favor of them, are over-reacting to the point of absurdity. These laws would be unenforceable, as well as impractical — even to the point of violating everyone’s rights (not just transgender people’s). I don’t know who would be in charge of “vetting” every prospective visitor to a restroom or locker room, but that person would have to check each of their genitalia and/or, if in doubt, procure a DNA sample that would be sent to a lab for analysis (and you thought the wait was too long sometimes to use the ladies room!). On the other hand, it is preposterous to allow just anyone in either restroom or locker room for whatever reason (by gender identity or not). There needs to be a solution that closes the loop holes while, at the same time, extending rights to transgender people.
To begin with, restrooms are different from locker rooms, in that accommodation is already made for privacy in restrooms by way of the stalls. Disrobing and using a communal shower in a locker room affords little, or no privacy. Let’s put our efforts into finding a solution for the locker room privacy issue, and let the restrooms be. I haven’t even been in a locker room for 40 years. As a transgender woman who lives with my (unfortunate) male genitalia, I have no desire to have them exposed to anyone. This would be true whether I were in a men’s or women’s locker room. Furthermore, I’m not interested in having the genitalia of others exposed to me. The only thing I can think of to avoid exposition is to install some sort of screening in both changing rooms and showers, and to further require that everyone cover themselves with a towel, at the least, in open spaces.
Any solution, in order to be non-discriminatory, needs to be applied to all. Transgender people don’t need, and most don’t want, special accommodations. Let’s work on legislation that considers everyone’s rights at the same time, and not that which is reactionary and based in fear.
And now we need to defeat the stinking initiative proposed by the religious right…