The Fine Print In All These “Bathroom Bills” Is Truly Terrifying

Anti-LGBT legislators have kicked off 2017 by introducing a slew of new anti-trans “bathroom bills.”

Lawmakers in Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Washington State, South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky have all introduced HB2-type bills for consideration in the upcoming legislative session. (And South Dakota considering a bathroom bill for 2018.)

On the surface, these measures all do the same thing: Deny trans people access to restrooms, lockers and other facilities that match their gender identity. As if that wasn’t troubling enough, though, there are more nefarious stipulations lurking in the fine print.

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In Virginia, for example, HB1612 includes a provision that would also require principals to out trans or gender-nonconforming students to their parents within 24 hours. Last year, lawmakers in the Commonwealth tried to pass a similar measure that could have authorized teachers to demand to see students naked to verify that their genitals matched the gender on their birth certificate.

Alabama’s SB1, meanwhile, would also force public institutions with gender-neutral bathrooms to hire actual “bathroom police” to patrol them. If they don’t, they could be fined up to $3,500 and sued by anyone who takes issue with their policy. (Reminder: There have been zero assaults reported by trans people in restrooms, but trans people are assaulted in restrooms at alarming rates).

Texas’s SB6, which was introduced yesterday by Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, would not only bar trans women specifically from using the ladies room in government buildings, but would also penalize school boards that allow trans students to use the appropriate facilities—and prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting or enforcing trans-friendly bathroom regulations.

(Anti-discrimination laws in Dallas, Austin, and several other Texas cities would be rendered invalid if SB6 passes.)

And like Virginia lawmakers, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also wants to force schools to out trans students to their parents.

Of course North Carolina’s infamous HB2, which has still yet to be repealed, has its own rider goes far beyond bathrooms: It prohibited any city or municipality from raising the minimum wage, regulating child labor, or enacting any civil rights ordinances not already covered by the state. (The law was sneakily first introduced as a “commerce bill.”)

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On Thursday, the ACLU told BuzzFeed that it would consider suing any state that passes a law to ban people transgender from restrooms for violating civil rights laws and the Constitution.

The ACLU and the Department of Justice have both filed lawsuits against North Carolina over HB2, but that battle will likely have to be settled by the Supreme Court—which means if Trump appoints any of the vehemently anti-LGBT justices on his short list, all the dirty fine print in these discriminatory “bathroom bills” could become a very real, very persistent problem.