The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women has initiated a statement which was signed onto by over 250 anti-sexual assault and domestic violence groups saying that the bill does nothing to reduce assault but rather puts transgender people at an even bigger risk of violence.

We, the undersigned sexual assault and domestic violence organizations, oppose anti-transgender initiatives. These initiatives utilize and perpetuate the myth that protecting transgender people’s access to restrooms and locker rooms endangers the safety or privacy of others. As organizations that care about reducing assault and violence, we favor laws and policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, including in accessing facilities that match the gender they live every day.

States across the country have introduced harmful legislation or initiatives that seek to repeal non-discrimination protections or restrict transgender people’s access to gender-specific facilities like restrooms. Those who are pushing these proposals have claimed that these proposals are necessary for public safety and to prevent sexual violence against women and children. As rape crisis centers, shelters, and other service providers who work each and every day to meet the needs of all survivors and reduce sexual assault and domestic violence throughout society, we speak from experience and expertise when we state that these claims are false

Nondiscrimination laws do not allow men to go into women’s restrooms—period. The claim that allowing transgender people to use the facilities that match the gender they live every day allows men into women’s bathrooms or women into men’s is based either on a flawed understanding of what it means to be transgender or a misrepresentation of the law.

It may be hard to understand the experiences of transgender people, especially if you have never met a transgender person. We believe in respecting the identities of transgender people. Transgender people live in a society that often discriminates against them and makes it much harder for them to participate in the routines of daily life.

The efforts to ban transgender people from using public restrooms obscures the fact that all of us, including transgender people, are deeply concerned about safety and privacy in restrooms. Transgender people already experience unconscionably high rates of sexual assault—and forcing them out of facilities consistent with the gender they live every day makes them vulnerable to assault. As advocates committed to ending sexual assault and domestic violence of every kind, we will never support any law or policy that could put anyone at greater risk for assault or harassment. That is why we are able to strongly support transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination protections—and why we oppose any law that would jeopardize the safety of transgender people by forcing them into restrooms that do not align with the gender they live every day.

It is natural to be concerned about safety and privacy. As advocates and survivors, we know the threat of sexual assault is real and pervasive. Every time we hear of someone who speaks of their assault or abuse, we feel their pain. The safety fears that many have, especially those who are survivors, are not baseless or irrational, nor should they be dismissed. However, discriminating against transgender people does nothing to decrease the risk of sexual assault.

Discriminating against transgender people does not give anyone more control over their body or security. Those who perpetuate falsehoods about transgender people and nondiscrimination laws are putting transgender people in harm’s way and making no one safer. We cannot stand by while the needs of survivors, both those who are transgender and those who are not, are obscured in order to push a political agenda that does nothing to serve and protect victims and potential victims. We will only accomplish our goal of ending sexual violence by treating all people, including those who are transgender, with fairness and respect.

The letter was signed by the following 37 national organizations and over 200 state and local organizations:

Alliance for Strong Families and Communities

American Association of University Women American

Dance Therapy Association

Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence

Battered Women's Justice Project

Break the Cycle

Center for Women Policy Studies FaithTrust Institute

Futures Without Violence

Hollaback!

Just Detention International

Know Your IX

Legal Momentum

Men As Peacemakers

Men's Story Project

National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)

National Alliance to End Sexual Violence

National Center for Victims of Crime

National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

National Council of Jewish Women

National Domestic Violence Hotline

National Housing Law Project

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center

National Latina@ Network: Casa de Esperanza

National Network to End Domestic Violence

National Organization for Men Against Sexism

National Organization for Women

National Organization of Asian Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence

National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault

National Organization for Victim Assistance

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

National Women’s Law Center

Praxis International

Resource Sharing Project

Stop It Now!

Support Network of Advocates for Protective Parents

YWCA