Arizona Bathroom Bill Flushed Away – For Now

An Arizona bill that targeted transgender people wanting to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity has been flushed away in the state legislature – at least for this Legislative session.

Republican Rep. John Kavanagh, whose initial proposal for a so-called “bathroom bill” caused a national uproar in March, told news media on Wednesday that due concerns over the proposal definitions among his caucus, the bill would be shelved for this year.

In Kavanagh’s original proposal, merely using a bathroom would have become a crime if the person using it didn’t have a birth certificate that matched their gender identity – a fairly difficult challenge for transgender people whose home states do not allow updating birth certificates after gender reassignment.

After a national outcry from transgender and LGBT rights organizations, Kavanagh amended the measure so that businesses would have been shielded from civil or criminal liability if they banned transgender people from restrooms that didn’t match the gender they were assigned at birth.

Watch Transgender Law Center’s Executive Director Masen Davis debate Representative Kavanagh:





