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Virginia bathroom bill is even worse than North Carolina’s
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Virginia bathroom bill is even worse than North Carolina’s

Laura E. Durso discusses the discrimination that transgender Virginians would face under the so-called Physical Privacy Act.

The Jan. 5 Metro article “Bill would restrict restroom use in Va.” reported that Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) introduced a bill that would mandate discrimination against transgender Virginians. The legislature should reject it.

The so-called Physical Privacy Act would make it illegal for a transgender person to use the restroom that matched their gender identity, mimicking North Carolina’s infamous law. Mr. Marshall said that transgender people in bathrooms are a threat to women; but this is a baseless, discredited myth rejected by women’s advocates and law enforcement. On the contrary, bills such as this encourage harassment of transgender people, almost 60 percent of whom report avoiding public restrooms out of fear.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Washington Post. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Laura E. Durso

Former Vice President, LGBTQ Research and Communications Project