Multiple reports indicate that no transgender individual has ever been arrested for sexual misconduct in a public bathroom, at least three Republican lawmakers have been arrested for sexual misconduct in a public bathroom. These lawmakers include former U.S. Senator Larry Craig, Mississippi Congressman Jon Hinson and Florida state Representative Bob Allen.
These are past incidences, but the Republican state lawmaker in Tennessee pushing to enforce bathroom restrictions on transgender individuals has also been found to be a danger to “unsuspecting women.” After Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued a warning that the lawmaker’s behavior posed “a continuing risk to unsuspecting women who are employed by or interact with the legislature,” Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell exiled state Rep. Jeremy Durham from his offices at the War Memorial Building and limited his access to other areas. The investigation is still in progress, but Slatery said that the warning and restrictions were necessary due to information learned during interviews with 34 different women that reported sexual harassment.
The letter said, “With few exceptions, the women who related incidents felt they could not report Representative Durham’s behavior because nothing could be done and they did not want to lose their jobs or be considered ‘untrustworthy’ by employers, clients or legislators.” It also reported that women “avoid or refuse to be alone with Representative Durham, a situation which has affected their ability to perform their jobs.” Incidentally, Durham is one of the key sponsors of House Bill 2414, which would prevent transgender people from using public bathrooms corresponding to their gender. In defending the bill, he and his supporters argued that it would protect women from harassment.
A new report issued by Media Matters quotes experts from twelve states – law enforcement officials, sexual assault victims advocates, and state human rights workers – who discredit the lie that transgender non-discrimination laws correlate with incidents of sexual assault or harassment in public restrooms.
So while 34 women have voiced concerns about Durham, there have not yet been any reported cases of transgender people sexually harassing others in public bathrooms.
Meanwhile, in Kansas, lawmakers are considering new legislation that would pay students a $2500 bounty for reporting on transgender classmates using the “wrong” bathroom. Defenders of the bill often say, “Would you want your little girl to go to the bathroom with a man who could claim he's transgendered?” It reminds me of the older members of my church who remember when the bathrooms “ladies” and “men” were reserved only for white people. At that point, all “colored” people shared the same bathroom, regardless of gender. The Southern lawmakers who cite fears about men sharing a bathroom with little girls are part of the same legislature that, a few decades ago, did not have a care in the world about the safety of black girls, those in power were simply concerned with maintaining the status quo.
In the wake of North Carolina’s new law that bans transgender people from accessing public facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity, calls to the Transgender Suicide Hotline have doubled.
Being denied basic human rights — like bathroom access — has life-threatening consequences.
All this, when statistics reveal that more politicians have harassed people in bathrooms than actual transgender people.
