The Public Facilities Privacy Security Act - 1755 Words

In March 2016, a â€Å"bathroom bill,† entitled the Public Facilities Privacy Security Act was introduced in North Carolina and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. Commonly referred to as â€Å"HB2,† or House Bill 2, this law states that within government buildings, like schools, an individual must use the restroom or changing facility that matches the sex listed on their birth certificate. For transgender individuals, this presents a problem, as their birth sex and the gender with which they identify do not match. Several other states, including South Dakota, Florida, Tennessee, and Wisconsin have introduced similar bills. Although these forms of legislature may seem of concern to only a minority, it should ultimately concern anyone who†¦show more content†¦Spokespeople for other North Carolina police departments have made similar statements (Michaels). Even if such a thing were plausible, how would one determine whether or not to allow a particular pers on into the restroom? Consider, for a moment, people who are gender non-conforming. These individuals are comfortable with their biological sex, male or female, but choose to present themselves in a way that is not typical of or expected for their gender. For example, a female may shirk feminine gender roles and dress in a way that is considered â€Å"masculine.† Now imagine a scenario in which such an individual wants to use the women’s restroom. They do not look as is expected for a female, but they are female nonetheless. Would a law enforcement officer request they present some form of ID or even their birth certificate? Would there be someone on standby to examine bathroom goer’s genitals, or check their DNA to ensure they have the correct chromosomes? On the other hand, there are many cases in which a transgender person is virtually indistinguishable from a non-transgender person, and this says nothing of intersex people who fall outside of the sex binary. The fact of the matter is that gender and sex are often blurred lines. In those cases, the only way to be certain the person entering the restroom was of the proper sex would be through the use of the extreme and