Florida and Alabama towns join gender bathroom war
A north聽Florida聽school board plans to limit restrooms to students based on their birth sex, not their gender identity. 聽The聽city of Oxford, Ala. has passed a similar ordinance.
A north聽Florida聽school board plans to limit restrooms to students based on their birth sex, not their gender identity. 聽The聽city of Oxford, Ala. has passed a similar ordinance.
A north聽Florida聽school board has approved a measure to limit restrooms to students based on their birth sex, not their gender identity.
The Marion County School Board approved the ban 鈥� effective Wednesday morning 鈥� during a meeting Tuesday. The decision came despite a warning from the American Civil Liberties Union that the ban is unlawful.
Board member Carol Ely says聽transgender聽students shouldn't get to choose which restroom to use, adding it's "reverse discrimination."
The district started allowing聽transgender聽students to choose their restroom two months ago. But a parent claimed his son's privacy rights were being violated because he's not comfortable sharing a restroom with a student who was born female but now identifies as male.
ACLU attorney Daniel Tilley tells The Ocala Star-Banner the group will represent any student needing assistance.
In South Carolina,聽a self-identified transgender student at Socastee High School in Horry County, S.C., was suspended after use the bathroom in January,聽海角大神 reports.
He was suspended for using the boys' bathroom, which he had been using since the seventh grade, he says. And now the student and his family are fighting for the school district to change their policy.
Meanwhile, the city of Oxford, Ala. has passed an ordinance making it illegal to use a public restroom different from the gender on a person's birth certificate.
Council President Steven Waits tells local news outlets the ordinance passed Tuesday came in response to Target's new restroom and changing room policies. Target announced the policies last week, which allow transgender employees and shoppers to use the restroom that matches their gender identity.
There is a Target store in the Oxford Exchange shopping center.
The ordinance makes the offense a misdemeanor. Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge says the law will be enforced like any other city ordinance, such as noise violations or public indecency.
Violators of the ordinance could face a $500 fine or up to six months in jail.