Dive Brief:
- Texas’s Lt. governor, a strong advocate of North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill,” is proposing a similar law for his state, reports SHRM. Dan Patrick opposed a bill that would have repealed North Carolina’s law.
- North Carolina’s bill prohibits people whose gender at birth differs from their gender identity from using publicly owned restrooms that correspond with their identity.
- Patrick insists that his state’s bill wasn’t drafted to discriminate against LGBT but, instead, is aimed at protecting women and girls from being accosted, assaulted or harassed in public restrooms.
Dive Insight:
Patrick’s bill bars transgender people from using restrooms in public schools, government buildings and university campuses. It also would prevent local governments from passing laws that publicly accommodate transgender people.
When North Carolina passed its “bathroom bill,” the boycotts that followed cost the state $400 million, reports the Business Insider. Big businesses in the state also came out strongly against the law, with some companies threatening to potentially move business elsewhere in response.
Patrick’s proposal and North Carolina’s bill prove that the controversy over LGBT rights is not settled. More states, especially those with conservative GOP governors and legislators, could continue to pass similar laws.
For the record: The EEOC offers employers guidance on transgender bathroom policies, noting that it considers implementation of such laws sex discrimination.