By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch A state legislator from south Pierce County wants businesses and schools to have the choice of making all their public restrooms available to transgenders or segregating them according to gender. In the 2016 session of the Legislature that began Jan. 11, Rep. Graham Hunt has proposed a state law that would allow public or private entities to keep private facilities segregated by gender. That would include bathrooms, restrooms, toilets, showers, locker rooms and saunas. Hunt's bill would allow limiting access to private facilities segregated by gender if an individual is pre-operative or non-operative. Hunt says there would be no restriction on individuals who are post-operative. He said House Bill 2589 is a response to a decision last year by the state's Human Rights Commission that granted transgender individuals access to the restroom of their choice. That rule, which went into effect Dec. 26, makes it illegal for businesses and schools with eight or more employees to bar a man from entering a women's restroom, and vice-versa. "Based on a number of recent cases, we know there will be people who seek to take advantage of the rule approved by the commission,GÇ¥ he said. A media representative for Hunt, when asked if the Republican legislator from Orting was referring to any specific examples of improper access to restrooms that could occur, provided links to 12 online news articles from around the U.S. and Canada. They include reports of a man in women's clothing taking photographs of a woman using a toilet in a public restroom in March 2008 at Purdue University in Indiana, a cross-dressing convicted male sex offender who entered the women's locker room at an aquatic park in Clackamas, Ore. in October 2011, and a decision by the University of Toronto to convert some bathrooms in student housing from gender-neutral to gender-identified after incidents of voyeurism. "My priority is ensuring the privacy, security and safety of all Washingtonians, including transgender individuals," Hunt said. He also said the five-member, appointed Human Rights Commission shouldn't be the deciding voice in bathroom privileges and privacy of the public. "I don't believe an unelected state agency should be responsible for making such a widespread and significant decision that affects the entire state," said Hunt. According to the commission, its directive that took effect last month doesn't introduce a new right but does clarify state law, passed in 2006, that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The law applies to employment, housing, public accommodation, credit and insurance. But state Sen Randi Becker, an Eatonville-area Republican who's from the same Second District as Hunt, shares his concern about the commission's action. It was taken "without any inputGÇ¥ from legislators and deprives women and children of "their right to privacy and sense of security at school, at the workplace, at the store, at the recreation center,GÇ¥ Becker said in an e-mail bulletin to constituents. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington has said that while it's "unclearGÇ¥ if the law specifically applies to restroom use for transgenders, the law's implementation in that regard in public schools has support from the office of the state superintendent of public instruction (OSPI). Guidelines from OSPI state that school districts should allow students to use school restrooms consistent with their gender identity. The guidelines also state that any student who wants increased privacy should have access to an alternative restroom, but that no student should be required to use an alternative restroom just because they are transgender, according to ACLU. The Bethel and Eatonville school districts generally follow the state's anti-discrimination law. The Bethel district has a written policy that specifically requires "an inclusive approach toward transgender studentsGÇ¥ in school activities and school facilities, including "restroom and locker room accessibility, sports and physical education, dress codes and other school activities, in order to provide these students with an equal opportunity for learning and achievement.GÇ¥
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