I know some democrats have been blaming transgender people for the so-called bathroom bills, going so far as to blame them for the election of the Trump. If examined closely, however, one should be able to detect that all the transgender community has done to instigate those bills is to exist. The conservative forces take it upon themselves to advance such legislation, in hopes of forcing transgender people out of public life.

Washington Republicans prefiled a bill for the next legislative session which would limit access to gender-segregated facilities for transgender people.

Discrimination based on gender identity has been illegal in Washington for since 2006. But when the state solidified that law’s public access protections last December, lawmakers pushed back with an effort to repeal it by putting the issue on the ballot. That effort was narrowly rejected in February.

HB1011, if passed, it would write discrimination into state law by prohibiting transgender people from using the restroom consistent with who they are—just like North Carolina‘s disastrous HB2.

--Washington Won't Discriminate

The new bill would amend Washington’s civil rights protections to block transgender people from using the facilities that correspond to their gender unless they have had genital surgery:

Nothing in this chapter prohibits a public or private entity from limiting access to a private facility segregated by gender, such as a bathroom, restroom, toilet, shower, locker room, or sauna, to a person if the person is preoperative, nonoperative, or otherwise has genitalia of a different gender from that for which the facility is segregated.

Nothing in this chapter grants any right to a person to access a private facility segregated by gender, such as a bathroom, restroom, toilet, shower, locker room, or sauna, of a public or private entity if the person is preoperative, nonoperative, or otherwise has genitalia of a different gender from that for which the facility is segregated.

Perhaps most disturbing is how much HB 1011 looks like North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which actually bans transgender people from using public restrooms and undermines the ability of local municipalities to set their own policies. HB 2 is considered to be the most extreme anti-LGBT law in the nation, and as such has plunged North Carolina into a sea of negative national attention and dire economic consequences.

--Washington Won't Discriminate

The bill was introduced by Republican representatives David Taylor, Matt Shea, Bob McCaslin, Jesse Young, Brad Klippert, Jim Walsh, Larry Haler, Shelly Short, Matt Manweller, Mark Hargrove, Liz Pike, Jeff Holy, Jay Rodne, and Vincent Buys.