Anti-Trans Bathroom Bully Bill Filed In Kentucky

TransGriot Note:  In the interest of journalistic integrity, I served on the boards of the Fairness Campaign and its C-FAIR political PAC from 2008-2010

When I lived in Kentucky, while it was 1000 miles away from my birth state, when it came to the politics, I noticed some similarities in terms of it having some politicians in its legislature that would make Louie Gohmert look like a Mensa candidate.

What that meant is that every session, we'd have some WTF bills filed that fortunately, because of the split control of the legislature (GOP Senate, Democratic House) didn't become law because they died in committee.

I was reminded of that aspect of Kentucky politics when I heard about Kentucky State Senator CB Embry(R) filing SB 76, the 'Bathroom Bully' Bill.

It would if passed not only force trans teens to use locker rooms and bathrooms that don't correspond to the person they are now, but would allow students who encounter a person of the opposite biological sex in a restroom, locker room or shower room to recover $2,500 damages for psychological, emotional and physical harm suffered and reasonable attorney fees and costs from the school if school personnel gave permission for the student encountered to use the facility or failed to take reasonable steps to prohibit the person encountered from using the facility.

It was in response to what happened at Louisville's Atherton HS that the hatemongering Kentucky 'Family Foundation tried to stick its transphobic nose in and failed.   They are now trying to get legislatively what they failed to do at the local level in Da Ville

Chris Hartman, director of the Kentucky Fairness Campaign, said the SB 76 bill that Embry has filed is 'a solution in search of a problem' at a time when the General Assembly has many more pressing issues to address.

“It’s sort of a fruitless effort to give him an opportunity to soapbox on something,” Hartman said.  The focus, instead should be on protecting marginalized students through an anti-bullying bill with a strong suicide prevention element, he said.

“We don’t see any reason to further mandate micromanage decisions being quite capably handled by each school,” he said.

Amen Chris.  I'm tired of white male conservatives reflexively spreading bathroom panic fears aimed at marginalized groups for their own political gain and to demonize or 'other' them.

SB 76 needs to die quick, fast and in a hurry because the commonwealth of Kentucky has far more pressing items on its plate than oppressing  trans kids