The sneaky City Council of Oxford, Alabama, met Tuesday night to pass a bathroom law that’s even more restrictive than North Carolina’s HB2.
A little over a week ago, Target officially stated that they welcome people using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, in a message of support to the LGBT community. This new ordinance in Oxford is essentially a direct response that, and it attempts to not only regulate toilets in government buildings, public schools and universities, but also public restrooms in businesses. Think Progress reports that the ordinance states:
“...Citizens have a right to quite [sic] solicitude [sic] and to be secure from embarrassment and unwanted intrusion into their privacy while utilizing multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facilities by members of the opposite biological sex.”
It also warns that “single sex public facilities are places of increased venerability [sic] and present the potential for crimes against individuals utilizing those facilities which may include, but not limited to, voyeurism, exhibitionism, molestation, and assault and battery.”
If anyone is caught violating the new law in police jurisdiction, they can be subject to a $500 fine or up to six months in jail. Council President Steven Waits prepared a statement that justified speculating about a stranger’s genitals by saying it was passed “not out of concerns for the 0.3 percent of the population who identify as transgender,” but “to protect our women and children.” There is a Target in this shit hole town, btw:
It might be the coolest place in town to hang out, from the looks of things.
Image via AP and Google Maps.
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