BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
At the start of this Legislative Session we did not believe that the far-left leadership would force this controversial bill onto Marylanders this year. Its passage out of committee just a few days ago was completely unexpected, seeing that this is an election year. However, we can use that fact to try to persuade the Delegates, who have yet to vote on this issue, that their votes on this shocking bill will be shown to their constituents.
The Maryland Senate voted 32-15 to pass SB 212 – the “Bathroom Bill” – a bill which would allow men to use women’s bathrooms and vice versa according to their “gender identity”. Now the bill is headed to the House of Delegates where it is highly likely to pass as well.
SB 212 defines “gender identity” as a “gender–related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth, which may be demonstrated by: (1) consistent and uniform assertion of the person’s gender identity; or (2) any other evidence that the gender identity is sincerely held as part of the person’s core identity.” In other words, if a boy decides he is a girl, he can use the girls' room if this bill becomes law.
Already, some grown men try to hide in women’s bathrooms to commit their crimes, as in the case of Frank F. Fuchs, a Missouri resident, who hid in public restroom stalls at least twice with a video camera, which he used to film occupants of nearby stalls. Under this bill Frank would be quite welcome to boldly walk into the ladies’ room where he could continue taping…or worse. All he has to do is claim he identifies as a woman.
Not only does this bill undermine our reasonable expectation of privacy in the bathroom, locker room, or shower room, it opens up women and girls to serious threats to their safety. Recently, a man visited the girls shower room at an Indianapolis YMCA on several occasions, according to wthr.com. Again, if this bill becomes law, he would be legally able to do the same thing in Maryland if he simply claims to identify as a woman.
Now that the Maryland Senate has actually passed this bill, the House of Delegates will hear the House version (HB 1265) of this bill in committee at 1pm today in the House Health and Government Operations (HGO) Committee.
In 2011, the House of Delegates passed a similar bill but it did not make it through the Senate. Now that this year’s bill has cleared the Senate, the chances of the "Bathroom Bill" passing the House are very high.
ACTION STEPS
Here are some things that you can do to try to stop this dangerous bill:
Email all the committee members HERE – we’ve provided suggested language so all you have to do is click on the link, make it your own wording, and then send it.
Call your Delegate. Encourage them to vote against this unreasonable bill. Tell their office where you live and that you will be making sure that his or her vote will be broadcasted well before the election in your home area.
Testify at the hearing today in Annapolis at 1pm (you must be signed in by 12:45).We CAN work to try to stop this bill now. Please ask everyone who may care about this issue to contact their State Delegate today. It is an election year, and most Delegates will be very concerned about what you, their constituents, will tell their friends and neighbors.
Sincerely,
Neil
Delegate Neil Parrott, Chairman
MDPetitions.com
TODAYS UPDATE (3/28/14)
Yesterday afternoon SB 212 – the “Bathroom Bill” – passed the House of Delegates and is now headed to the governor for his signature. While we are very surprised and disappointed with the vote, it did not happen without a fight. You were a big part of that fight with your calls, emails, and prayers. Your efforts made a difference.
The good news is that we don’t have to accept this bill as law – there is another way to defeat this terrible bill. As with the laws that brought us in-state college tuition subsidies for illegal aliens, same-sex marriage, and gerrymandered congressional districts, we have the option of petitioning the “Bathroom Bill” to the ballot so that all Maryland voters can vote on it.
Do you want to take this bill to the ballot for a vote? Would you please take a few minutes to let us know what you want to do? We have prepared a very short survey that we hope you will fill out so we can know how you want for MDpetitions.com to proceed. We do not take the prospect of another petition drive lightly – a successful petition drive and subsequent campaign will take significant efforts from people all over the state.
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