Florida County Considering Transgender Ordinance for Public Spaces
A county in Florida is considering an ordinance that may allow for usage of public facilities, including bathrooms, regardless of gender identity.
Commissioners for Miami-Dade County will vote Tuesday on a measure that critics say will allow men who consider themselves female to use women's restrooms.
Introduced in September and cosponsored by five members of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, the proposed ordinance adds "gender identity" and "gender expression" to its list of groups that cannot be discriminated against.
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This stated protection from discrimination would include the areas of "employment, family leave, public accommodations, credit and financing practices, and housing accommodations," reads the proposed ordinance.
LGBT groups have argued that the proposed ordinance will be a step in protecting transgender individuals from discrimination while social conservative groups have argued that it opens the door for many unintended consequences, including male sexual predators being able to use women's restrooms.
In September, Miami-Dade commissioners had a preliminary vote on the proposed ordinance and gave their approval to the measure.
"Miami-Dade is trying to join a long list of counties that have already made the change to include transgender protections," reported CBS Miami right after the vote.
"Similar ordinances expanding human rights already happened in Monroe County and Key West in 2003, Miami Beach in 2004, Palm Beach County in 2007, Broward County in 2008 and Gainesville's Alachua County."
Last month, the Public Safety & Animal Services Committee passed the proposed ordinance in a vote of three to one, thus bringing the measure to the full Commission on Tuesday.
This is not the first time Miami-Dade had considered expanding their anti-discrimination ordinance to include gender identity.
Last year the County considered a similar measure, approving it on first reading in a vote of 11 to 1 before sending it to the Health and Social Services Committee.
"After lobbying by Miami-Dade's statewide Christian Family Coalition, the committee declined to discuss the proposal at its July 8 meeting and originally decided to defer until Aug. 26. [Eventually], commission co-sponsors dropped the plan," wrote Steve Rothaus of the Miami Herald blog Gay South Florida back in 2013.
Regarding the currently proposed ordinance, in a statement sent to supporters and posted on their website, the CFC denounced the measure as "War on Women ordinance" that "basically criminalizes any and all disagreement with an individual's 'sexual identity or expression' fantasy."
"Whenever you refuse to go along with whichever 'transsexual' claims to be his 'sexual identity or expression,' you will be FIRED, PERSECUTED, or SUED!," continued the statement.
