The Legislative Perspectives Surrounding the North Carolina HB2 Bill
In 2015 The North Carolina House passed a bill now referred to as the “Bathroom Bill”, legally known as North Carolina HB2. The direct implications from North Carolina HB2 is that people regardless of current or identifying genders, must use the public bathroom that correlates to the gender on their birth certificate. (“HOUSE BILL DRH40005-TC-1B”) HB2 has been pushed by its supporting lawmakers as a protection on the usage of public bathrooms. Lawmakers claim that the bill is made to protect cisgender individuals, those born to their gender, from transgender individuals, from harassment in the bathroom setting. Yet, there have been zero recorded cases of a transgender individual
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Over the past few years, the issues faced by people who identify as transgender (gender dysphoric) have gained momentum in the media. From Caitlyn Jenner to which bathroom to use, transgender people have made a lot of progress in addressing
Topics concerning transgender can be very overwhelming for some. When one thinks of the term transgender, one may think of the process of an individual identifying as the opposite sex. The opposite sex of what he or she was born as. For some, this may involve undergoing surgical procedures or taken hormonal medications to fulfill their desire. However, when thinking of this process, one automatically thinks of transgender adults. This is rarely a topic that one would assume would be racing through the minds of young children, but in fact it is. More children today than ever, are either speaking out about their identity concerns, or displaying it in their lives. In fact, according to Date Line NBC, “The handful of American doctors who specialize
One current court case is dealing with a federal judge releasing an injunction to momentarily restrict transgender students from using school bathrooms as well as locker rooms of their choice (Eldeib). In blocking students from using something as simple as a restroom or locker room, a student’s identity can be misconstrued. Especially with a student who may already feel differently about their identity. A mother in Denton, Texas, hopes to change the legal problems revolving around the controversy of bathroom laws in Texas schools. Amber Briggle states her 8-year-old transgender son has felt he needs to wait to use the restroom until he would arrive home. As well as this, Briggle confirms her son, MG’s grades dropped drastically. His grades continued to worsen until he was given a restroom alteration, allowing him to feel comfortable. (Wright). Along with MG, many students do not feel safe in their schools because of having to hide their transgender identity. Students may not feel safe just because Texas is such a conservative state. Ken Paxton and other state leaders even exchanged in transphobic rhetoric at the 2016 Texas GOP convention. Because of the strong conservative viewpoints in Texas, young people as well as students in the area may not feel accepted as who they are, leading them to disguise their true self. School is already a tough time in a child or teens life, and being discriminated against because of how one identifies does not make a student’s lifestyle any easier. Because transgender students in Texas schools are entitled to free expression of gender identity, they are also permitted to dress how they please. As well as wearing the clothes a transgender students feels most comfortable with, it is permissible to address these students by their preferred name. Because transgender
In recent years, the United States has been struggling to pass transgender rights, and Texas is of no means of an exception. Some of these include bathroom rights. In Texas, the bathroom bill passed through the Texas Senate, but did not survive through the Texas House, resulting in a temporary halt. Even now, the government still question the rights. It is suggested that Texas may need a bathroom bill, but would probably end in some kind of financial consequence, along with many Americans losing their jobs. The Texas Bathroom Bill, otherwise known as SB6, could also fuel disunity within our nation and cause several riots.
Texas, while one of the largest and most diverse states in the United States is also one of the most ideologically conservative. This is especially prevalent through traditional behaviors and the religious influence upheld in its legislature. These qualities can be seen in vast majority in the Senate Bill No. 6, or more popularly known as the “Bathroom Bill”. This newly proposed bill was brought forth for the first time in May of 2016 and has since turned people to anger and fear as it has been gaining momentum.
Texas Legislation has been known to be extremely controversial. But, before it can be described, for whom the legislation
hb2 is a new law ongoing in North carolina. It removes protections for gay and lesbian workers. Permitting an employer to fire them for their love interest. And also requires transgender individuals to use their assigned birth sex bathrooms. Cities in North Carolina are also now not allowed to enforce their own anti discrimination protection laws.
Did you know that House Bill 2 eliminates any state law claim for discrimination in the workplace based on gender orientation? You can now get fired for your race, religious beliefs, sex, etc. HB2 has been just discrimination against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Transsexuals and Queer people (LGBTQ people). The downfall of that claim was it cited a study that said North Carolina might lose more than $500 million, not that it already had. At the time we found a more accurate estimate of losses was between $77 million and the 201 million (Will Doran). House Bill 2 is referred to as the bathroom law. The prominence of House Bill 2 is to determine the rights of transsexual and transgender people to use the bathroom without discrimination. But the state overrode it and ended up doing harm.
Recently, in Houston, Texas, voters repealed an equal rights bill, called the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, that protected marginalized groups of people, including people of color, the disabled, etc. “On Tuesday, November 3, Houston voted on whether LGBTQ people should be legally protected from discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations. According to the Associated Press, the measure lost.” (German Lopez, Vox.com) Considering Houston is one of the bluest cities in the nation, it leads you to wonder; just exactly why was H.E.R.O. pulled? The answer is unfortunately simple: it would allow transgender people to use the restroom of the gender they identify as.
When it comes to the HB2, it is not going against transgender human beings, it is simply keeping citizens in the community safe. For example, a man could say that he was transgender and called himself a female just to get into the woman’s bathroom and sexually assault a woman or a child. No matter what anyone says, most women tend to be frightened when they are with or around a strange man. For example, in the essay “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space”, it talks about how Staples and a young woman were walking in the same direction on a sidewalk at night. When the young woman realized that Staples was behind her, she instantly became frightened, which is understandable. The young woman began to walk faster trying to get away from Staples not grasping that he wasn’t going to hurt her. Eventually, the woman was out of sight and away from Staples. Even though the essay “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space” does not talk about bathroom safety itself, it does show how people feel harmed by others looks and who is around them because of stereotyping. For women and children, the door is always open for the possibility to become sexually assaulted. With this law passed, it gives women and children a small sense of relief. Supporters of the HB2 stand up for their rights and say that HB2 “defends religious liberty and protects girls in public restrooms
All individuals are born with certain rights that are guaranteed to us a citizen of the United States and as human beings. These rights include the fact that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (“Universal Declaration”). In the United States, we are also guaranteed the rights to not be discriminated against due to race, gender, age, sex, and sexual orientation, however, discrimination is all too common. Discriminatory laws and practices occur all over the United States daily and affect many minority groups. In recent months, North Carolina passed a new law, House Bill 2 or BH2, that requires individuals to use the bathroom of their biological sex, or what sex they were born. House Bill 2 violates the rights of thousands of individuals and has caused many social justice issues to come to light.
The North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signs the House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which undo all previous non-discrimination legislation, to ban transgendered individuals from using restrooms which matches their sexual identification. The law asserts that they should instead use the restrooms which matches the gender listed on their birth certificates. Enraged civil liberties groups around the country has decry the move as backwards and one which may put the well-being of transgenders at risk. Transgendered individuals have historically been a small vulnerable subset of the population, they have often been meted with violence and hostility. They are seen as a perversion and a dearth of moral values and evidence of societal degradation. But like any other vulnerable groups in society, they should be protected, not vilified as perverts and deviants.
When approaching public restrooms, most look at the gender on the door that associates with their own gender. However, some stare at those labels wondering which one they belong in. These types of people are often referred to as transgenders. Transgenders are people who identify themselves with the opposite gender of their biological sex. Therefore, for this category of people, entering a restroom is not so easy. They often wonder whether they should go into the bathroom of their biological sex or of their gender identity. The debate has spread throughout America today. Transgender bathrooms have been discussed in politics, education, and even criminal cases. Both sides of the debate offer valid evidence to support their claims. The only compensation
Another recent survey reported, “41% of the respondents reported at least one suicide attempt, 53% reported being harassed in a public accommodation, and 27% earned less than $20,000 per year, often related to employment discrimination” as members of the Transgender, Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) community (Singh, 2016, p. 755).
TIME magazine in April 5, 2016, in North Carolina, the law passed recently became the first state law in the country limiting transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates, also excluding LGBT people from anti-discrimination protections, plus blocking municipalities from passing their own anti-discrimination rules. (Dalesio, 2016)