News:
Current Press Releases and
News Articles

From the Gazette

Transgender bill raises some hackles


by Janel Davis
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Several years ago. Bunny S. Galladora had to use the bathroom. While taking a break from testifying during a legislative session in Annapolis, Galladora said she was startled when a man dressed in women's clothing entered and used the women's restroom.

"We notified a security guard about it and were told there was no law against it," she said.

Galladora, president of the the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Maryland, recounts this story to explain her opposition to a proposed county ban on discrimination against transgender individuals. The law would apply to housing, employment, cable television service, taxi service and public accommodations.

While the proposed law on the surface seems appropriate, Galladora and other opponents say, the public accommodations portion of the proposal makes the law bad for the county and puts women and children at risk.

Although the proposal specifies that the law would not be used to protect anyone, regardless of gender identity, from committing crimes, such as voyeurism, Galladora and others say the law would be difficult to enforce.

The county's public accommodation provision is based on Boston's Human Rights Law, which prohibits preventing anyone from using private accommodations, including toilets, based on their gender identity.

"How any police officer is going to monitor that, I don't know. I don't know how you distinguish that from a peeping tom," said Galladora of North Potomac. "I think this is really bad legislation, and the whole thing does not make sense. It's a safety issue and I don't think kids need to be exposed to that, and I think men and women need to keep their privacy."

County Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, who introduced the bill, said the criticism by Galladora and others has been outweighed by support of the bill received by her office and the council.

"I didn't include the bathrooms in the [original] bill, but when it became an issue, the committee had to tackle it. When it was passed in other areas with specific bathroom language, it has not been a problem," said Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda.

Trachtenberg introduced the bill last month, spurred by her staff member, Dana Beyer, a transgender female and an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

A lot of the criticism is "hyperbolic," and from people "who have an ideological difference with providing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community equal rights under the law," Trachtenberg said.

But the bill and her opposition to it is about more than that, said critic Ruth Jacobs, an infections disease physician in the county.

"I think most people are inflamed [about the public accommodations portion of the bill] and this shows how out of touch the council is and how it will willy-nilly allow just anyone to go into bathrooms," Jacobs said.

Jacobs, who testified against the bill at a public hearing this month, has long maintained that transgender is a mental illness as defined by the medical community. In her opinion, the council should do less to accommodate transgender people and more to provide medical help for them.

"Yes, you should be kind and helpful to somebody that is mentally ill, but we should not do this in a way that puts the health and welfare of county residents in jeopardy," said Jacobs, who will take part in a protest rally against the legislation in Germantown on Saturday.

Regardless of whether there is agreement on the definition of transgender, the county's proposal is still about equal rights, said Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, an LGBT advocacy organization in Silver Spring.

"This legislation is not about whether people are moral or immoral, it's about making sure everyone has equal rights," he said. "This bill is a basic nondiscrimination bill.... Sadly, a good amount of harassment and discrimination still exists."

Maryanne A. Arnow, a chef and transgender woman from Germantown, said she supports the county's proposal but can understand some of the critics' concerns.

"I believe this will become a sticking point between conservative minds, and we believe that every human is entitled to equal rights," she said. "People have strong opinions rooted in conservative and religious virtues... Unfortunately, when any human is denied any human right, I must call that into question."

Arnow's solution would be to establish unisex toilets and raise the public's awareness regarding the difference between gender identity and sexuality.

"As a female, I have no desire of sexual gratification or illegal behavior by using the same facilities as other women. When I'm in there, I'm doing the same things as other women," she said.

But there is a legitimate concern regarding people in various stages of their sexual transitioning. "It's a difficult question and a slippery slope," Arnow said.

Action on the legislation is scheduled for Nov. 13. If approved, the county would join more than 100 other jurisdiction with similar laws.