More than two dozen people stood outside the Clark County Courthouse on Saturday afternoon to protest a new rule allowing transgender people to use restrooms based on their identified gender.
The Human Rights Commission rule will lead to invasion of women’s privacy and put women and children in danger, the Southwest Washington protesters said.
John Lifflander, who organized the protest and kicked it off by reading stories of women who were raped in bathrooms, said the new rule will encourage people with ill intentions to enter women’s restrooms and harm them.
Before this rule, he said, a woman could scream in the bathroom if a man entered.
“Now, they would say she’s wrong,” Lifflander said.
The Human Rights Commission rule took effect last month. The commission said the rule merely clarifies existing anti-discrimination laws, according to The Seattle Times.
Danni Askini, executive director of the Seattle-based Gender Justice League, told the Seattle paper that there are already “very strong laws on the books that already say it’s illegal if people enter a restroom to harass, assault or invade the privacy of other people.”
There are measures being considered in the state Legislature to overturn the rule.
The Clark County protesters made signs reading “keep our bathrooms safe.” They said the commission has endangered the “lives of all the women and children in our state.”
Ann Evans of Ridgefield said her biggest concern was the “hubris, the gall, to make a decision that affects the state without the consent of the governed,” she said, saying the appointed commission members imposed their will on thousands of people.
The protestors read statements from Southwest Washington lawmakers, including Reps. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, and Brandon Vick, R-Felida, who said they are working on overturning the rule.
Wilson’s statement said the issue should be dealt with legislatively so decision-makers could be held accountable.
“This is yet another case where a state agency has drastically overstepped its bounds,” Wilson said in her statement.
