No One Should Face Criminal Charges for Using the Bathroom
For Immediate Release
March 19, 2015
Contact: Jerame Davis
No One Should Face Criminal Charges for Using the Bathroom
WASHINGTON, DC – In several states around the country, including Florida, Texas, Kentucky, and Missouri, legislation has been introduced to restrict bathroom usage by transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. In light of these bills, Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following statement:
“These attempts to ban transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from using the restroom that best matches their gender identity are appalling on every level. Bills like these are nothing more than an attempt to implement a solution for which there is no problem. Grown adults, and even most children, have no problem deciding which bathroom they should use and laws that restrict those choices are misguided, mean-spirited, and demeaning.
“Access to a sanitary restroom is a health and safety concern both in public and in the workplace. Federal regulations require that all workers are given prompt access to such facilities at their work sites and many jurisdictions are passing laws that require all publicly accessible single-stall restrooms to be gender neutral. States that pass laws to the contrary are moving in the wrong direction and stand to create a situation where workers and the general public could be confused or intimidated about which facility they should use.
“Creating a false sense of fear of transgender individuals – which seems to be the core purpose of these bills – compounds the daily struggle many transgender and gender non-conforming people encounter every day. Facing criminal charges for using the bathroom is an insult to the values of freedom and equality most Americans hold dear. These bills must not be allowed to become law and, working with our partners in organized labor and on the ground, we will do everything we can to stop them.”
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Pride At Work is the official constituency group of LGBT union members and allies fighting for workplace equality for LGBT workers.We organize mutual support between the organized labor movement in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Workers interested in joining Pride at Work or in launching new chapter organizing efforts, can visit www.prideatwork.org or email us at info@prideatwork.org.
