海角大神

Philip Taliaferro is in total agreement with the toughest 鈥渂athroom bill鈥� in the United States.

To him, the new ordinance passed by his hometown of Oxford, Ala., is holding the line against a country 鈥渢hat appears to be going down the wrong road,鈥� when it comes to prioritizing the rights of a small minority of transgender people over the safety of women and children.

鈥淚鈥檇 never want my granddaughter to experience that,鈥� the carpenter said on a recent morning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 as if people don鈥檛 think about the consequences.鈥�

Bottom line, he adds: 鈥淲e are who God made us. And God doesn鈥檛 make mistakes.鈥�

The debate over gender identity and bathrooms that has tumbled through state legislatures this spring is now spreading to cities and towns from Oxford to Ocala, Fla. North Carolina and Mississippi have passed 鈥渂athroom bills鈥�; 15 other states are considering doing so.

Mr. Taliaferro鈥檚 deep discomfort with the idea of allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity is in the majority in this Southern city just west of the Talladega Mountains.

But his isn鈥檛 the only voice. Some residents questioned why this was even the subject of a national debate. Others are concerned the new ordinance will humiliate already vulnerable people. And some are uncomfortable with Oxford鈥檚 place at the vanguard of what resident Mary Hollingsworth calls 鈥渙ur growing war over private parts.鈥�

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e finding on transgender issues is that people aren鈥檛 as familiar with the issues or the terminology or what鈥檚 really meant when people say their gender identity doesn鈥檛 match their assigned sex at birth 鈥� a lot of people, even gays and lesbians, are uncertain about that, and uncomfortable with the idea that gender is flexible,鈥� says Don Haider-Markel, a political scientist at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, who has studied America鈥檚 shifting perceptions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues.

That鈥檚 certainly true here in Oxford.

Target as a target

The local Target became the unlikely center of controversy here after the corporate office in Minneapolis last week affirmed its policy of allowing shoppers to choose the bathroom that corresponded with their gender identity.

On Tuesday, the city council passed an ordinance that covers both private business and state-owned buildings. Anyone caught using the 鈥渨rong鈥� bathroom faces a $500 fine and up to six months in jail. Citizens are being asked to report suspects to the police. The city council said it reacted directly to resident complaints about Target鈥檚 policy.

Oxford City Council President Steven Waits said the ordinance was not passed "out of concerns for the 0.3 percent of the population who identify as transgender ... [but] to protect our women and children."

Concern that allowing transgender women to use women鈥檚 restrooms will make it easier for male sexual predators to commit crimes in bathrooms and locker rooms has been frequently raised. At this time, it appears to be mostly hypothetical, at least in the United States. The Charlotte Observer, among others, launched an investigation into such claims. It didn鈥檛 find a single confirmed case in the US.

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 found any instances of criminals convicted of using transgender protections as cover in the United States. Neither have any left-wing groups or right-wing groups,鈥� . 鈥淭here was one incident in Canada, involving a rapist. In the US, there have been a few yet-unproven allegations.鈥�

Oxford鈥檚 ordinance goes further than any other both by the size of its penalty as well as the fact that it doesn鈥檛 just apply to publicly funded facilities, such as laws passed in North Carolina and Mississippi.

And that concerns lifetime resident Whitney Kirby, who was pulling up to shop at Target Thursday. Like Taliaferro, she turns to the Bible for instruction, but she just doesn't understand 鈥減unishing people who already have really hard lives.鈥澛�

The ordinance, she says, 鈥渋s really just a way to control people,鈥� and a sign that 鈥渨e can鈥檛 decide what we want to be as a country. But as a person, even considering the laws of God, who am I to say what is or isn鈥檛 right?鈥�

Some 300,000 transgender youth and adults might be affected by bathroom bills, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles that researches sexual orientation and gender identity law. The Institute didn鈥檛 have figures for Alabama, but according to a March study, there are about 18,000 transgender people in South Carolina, a state of similar size and demographic make-up.

'More acceptance every day'

Evidence suggests that transgender Americans are usually victims of assault, not aggressors. According to a 2013 survey of Washington, D.C., transgender Americans, some 70 percent of transgender adults say they鈥檝e been confronted about their choice of bathroom, including being ridiculed and having the bathroom door barred. Nine percent said they were physically assaulted.聽

The governor of South Dakota vetoed a bathroom bill earlier this year after meeting, behind closed doors, with transgender teenagers, who reportedly revealed their deep fears around attending bathrooms that don鈥檛 correspond to their gender identity.

According to interviews with several LGBT residents here, at least a handful transgender people live in Oxford or nearby towns served by Target.

Ms. Hollingsworth and her partner, Emily, have thought about moving to more accepting places like Chattanooga, Tenn., or Atlanta. But instead, they have decided to accept the challenge of living life as LGBT people in the Deep South, which amounts, basically, to 鈥渘ot pushing our relationship in people鈥檚 faces,鈥� says Hollingsworth. 鈥淔or a long time, people knew us as roommates,鈥� she says. But, she adds, 鈥渆verybody pretty much knows the truth.鈥�

To them, the Oxford bathroom law is 鈥渨rong鈥� and 鈥渋nfuriating,鈥� the product of a 鈥渃lose-minded鈥� culture.

Still, she says, Oxford is changing. The downtown business area has become home to growing numbers of 鈥渆ccentric鈥� business owners. 鈥淭here's more acceptance every day,鈥� says Hollingsworth.

Marcus Pettus, an Oxford bike shop owner, says he feels 鈥渢he general consensus in town is that the ordinance is kind of a misdirection 鈥� people pushing their agenda when it鈥檚 just a big deal made out of nothing.鈥�

At the same time, he doesn鈥檛 feel those who support the ordinance are motivated by bigotry. 鈥淚 think most people overreact by thinking, 鈥業f my daughter is in the restroom, is there going to be a man next to them?鈥� I鈥檇 argue, though, if you鈥檙e looking in the next stall, that would raise more questions鈥� than a transgender person in the restroom.