Bad GA Bathroom Bill

Update on HB 849

HB 849, the “Georgia Civil Rights in Public Accommodations Act," is a potential “bathroom bill” that can put the privacy and safety of our women and children at risk. HB 849 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now in the House Rules Committee. If HB 849 is not stopped, we will end up with men in women's restrooms and boys in girls' locker rooms and showers. We must stop the violation of privacy and safety before it begins.

Will you make two calls today? 

1.     Call Rep. Rich Golick (bill sponsor) at 404-656-5943 and respectfully ask him to pull HB 849. 

2.     Call Rules Committee Chairman John Meadows at 404-656-5141 and respectfully ask him to hold HB 849 and not let the bill out for a vote on the floor.

3.     If your State Representative is a member of the Rules Committee, call and urge him or her to OPPOSE HB 849 if brought up for a vote in committee.

House Rules Committee
Find your legislator here.

If HB 849 passes, this is what the women and children of Georgia can expect:

·        Prior sex offense, approaching young girls. A man who had prior sex offenses against 5 to 9-year-old girls was arrested after he entered a women's locker room dressed in a bikini and started talking to girls in the hot tub. Milwaukie, Oregon (2011). The Oregon “bathroom bill” was in effect.

·        Undressing in front of children. A man wearing women’s clothes was arrested after he went into a women’s restroom in a Walmart and undressed in front of several children. Calhoun, GA (2010).

·        Photographing girls. A 48-year-old man was arrested after dressing up like a woman and attempting to enter a high school locker room to photograph cheerleaders. Greensburg Salem High School, Pennsylvania (2004).

·        Photographing women. Police arrested a man they say twice disguised himself as a woman and used a cell phone to photograph women in the showers of a college locker room.  UC Berkeley (2010).

Click here to read more examples. 

Background on HB 849:

Introduced by Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), the bill would place in state code the federal code that prohibits public accommodations discrimination. The original bill language posed no immediate danger to Georgians, but that was before the bill was amended in committee to include the word “sex”. Concerned Women for America of Georgia does not support HB 849 for the following reasons:

·        The bill is not necessary. Public accommodation protections are already codified in 42 U.S.C. Section 2000a.

·        HB 849 was amended in committee to include “sex”. Another amendment was offered in committee to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” but that amendment was narrowly defeated.

·        Data shows that of the 45 states that have embodied the federal code in their respective state code, 22 states now prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and 18 prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. The efforts to include sexual orientation/gender identity (SOGI) in state code are now extending to the passage of local SOGI ordinances.

·        The Obama administration has deemed “sex” an elastic term, and regards “gender” (how one feels) synonymous with “sex” (biology), and is aggressively embedding “gender” as a part of federal policy, including Title IX funding.  The results are quite disturbing. As recent as December 2015, a Chicago suburb high school must now allow a transgendered male to female student full access to female restrooms and locker rooms or risk losing Title IX funding.  

We oppose any real or potential SOGI nondiscrimination legislation, i.e., “bathroom bills”, which would allow transgendered men and women to utilize the bathrooms, showers and locker rooms of their choice.

In expressing my concerns on the bill, I was told that I am reacting out fear. The facts are on our side, and we believe it is the responsibility of our lawmakers to stay clear of any legislation that puts the privacy and safety of women and children at risk. We believe that HB 849 has the potential of doing just that.

Tanya Ditty State Director CWA of Georgia director@georgia.cwfa.org     ga.cwfa.org

Concerned Women of America

http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5b8040a32fc831ea 0aff8019b&id=f9f8227f73&e=a932997f16

Comments

The gold dome is jumping the gun on LGBT.  Gay and Transgender have not been added to the Civil Rights Act as protected classes, not will they be. Preemptive Local Laws, State Bills and School Board actions are unnecessary and will only cause problems. Let Atlanta, DeKalb and Fulton refuse to change their bathrooms and see what happens. Let counties and cities try to pass ordinances and see what happens.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader