With the Senate set to vote on the Transgender Bathroom Bill this week, Massachusetts Family Institute will hold a press conference Wednesday asking legislators to protect privacy rights and oppose the bill.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
WOBURN — Citizens concerned about privacy and safety in public bathrooms and locker rooms will be holding a press conference tomorrow at 3 p.m. in front of the Grand Staircase of the State House. Kaeley Triller, author of “A Rape Survivor Speaks Out About Transgender Bathrooms,” will speak on the risks to the mental health of women and children exposed to an unwanted male presence in intimate spaces.
“While I feel a deep sense of empathy for what must be a very difficult situation for transgender people, at the beginning and end of the day, it is nothing short of negligent to instate policies that elevate the emotional comfort of a relative few over the physical safety of a large group of vulnerable people,” Kaeley Triller said in the Federalist article.
Andover Representative Jim Lyons and Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith will address the myriad of legal and public policy problems with Senate Bill 735 and House Bill 4253. Other concerned voices will also speak about the conflict of privacy rights that these two versions of the Bathroom Bill would impose, asking the MA legislature to vote against the bills.
“The Bathroom Bill will force women to undress or shower in the presence of men. This violates a fundamental right to personal privacy,” argues Andrew Beckwith, president of the Woburn based Massachusetts Family Institute.
Although advocates of the bill say it is necessary to protect gender expression in public accommodations like restaurants and hospitals, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has publicly stated that most public accommodations are already covered under existing law. The bill would also impose criminal penalties, including up to a year in jail, on business owners who attempt to prevent biological men from using women’s facilities.
Massachusetts Family Institute is a non-profit research, education and public policy organization dedicated to strengthening the institution of the family and affirming the Judeo-Christian values upon which the family is based.
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