Warnick proposes new bill on transgender bathroom access

OLYMPIA — Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, proposed a bill to make it illegal for people to enter a gender-segregated facility that does not correspond with their anatomical sex. This would include transgender people who are preoperative or non-operative, and therefore have different genitalia from the gender with which they identify.

The bill was brought before the Senate Law and Justice committee for a public hearing Monday.

Warnick said she does not want to discriminate against transgender individuals, but she has concerns about letting those of the opposite sex enter gender-segregated facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms.

“I am thinking about children, and I am thinking about very vulnerable adults,” Warnick said. Later she added, “I am thinking about an 8-year-old girl standing next to a full grown man, who identifies that he is a woman, but has the male genitalia — and I am just thinking of the effect that might impose on her.”

In 2015 the Human Rights Commission created a rule that allows individuals to use whichever bathroom, locker room, or any other gender-segregated facility that corresponds to their gender identity.

Many transgender individuals who testified said people would probably feel uncomfortable if they were required to use the facility that matched their genitalia instead of their identity.

One transgender man, Cory Grandinetti, said he had been using men’s bathrooms since 2006 — when the Legislature passed a law banning discrimination against transgender individuals.

“Although my genitalia is no one’s business, I’d like you to look at me and think about how women would feel if I returned to using a women’s restroom,” the bearded Grandinetti said to the committee.

Another transgender man, Simon Knaphus, said he would also be uncomfortable going back to using women’s facilities.

“Concern has been expressed about an 8-year-old girl showering next to a grown man in a locker room — believe me, as a grown man, I don’t want to be in that situation either,” he said.

Many of those who supported the bill shared concern over individuals who are not transgender being able to take advantage of the current rule.

Sixteen-year-old Leah Nieman said, “the prospect of someone who is not sincerely transgendered taking advantage of the situation makes me extremely nervous.”

Karin White, from the YWCA of Pierce County, said concerns about safety reflect a misconception about how sexual assault usually occurs. White said violence rarely occurs in public spaces, but rather in homes by a person known to the victim.

“Promoting legislation that supports messaging that women and children are unsafe in public bathrooms is actually creating more danger by discriminating against a population of people who are exponentially more victimized than the general population,” White said. “It also detracts from getting accurate information to the general public about who is actually the most likely to cause them harm.”

Joseph Backholm, of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, supported the bill and said there might be legal issues with the HRC rule. Backholm said the rule interferes with students’ right to privacy, as well as parents’ rights to control their child’s upbringing.

Donna Hagar, from the group Keep Locker Rooms Safe, supported the bill, but she believed the issue should be voted on by the public.

“Something this critical cannot be decided upon just by four or five people on a panel.”

The bill has not been scheduled for a vote by the committee yet.

Last week, the Senate passed the first reading of a bill to repeal the HRC’s rule. The Senate’s bill goes next to the Senate Rules Committee for a second hearing.