Bill would prevent more gender-segregated designations

OLYMPIA — A bill to repeal a rule allowing people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with drew a substantial crowd at its first and only public hearing last week.

Senate Bill 6443 passed 4-3 through the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. The vote followed party lines with four Republicans approving the measure.

A companion bill in the House has not been scheduled for a committee public hearing.

A person who is transgender has an inner sense of gender identity that is not the same as the sex they were born with.

The Washington State Human Rights Commission created a rule based on a 2006 nondiscrimination law for sexual identity passed by the Legislature. The rule says people must be allowed to use gender-segregated places that match their gender identity.

Several school districts across Snohomish County already have put policies in place for transgender students while others are drafting proposals.

The Senate bill approved Wednesday would prevent the human rights commission from further creating rules concerning gender-segregated locations.

Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, the prime sponsor of the bill, dubbed the rule “men in the women’s locker room.”

“There’s an expectation that parents have with regards of when they take their kids to school of who will use which locker room, who will use which bathroom,” he said to the committee.

He also said the rule could hurt businesses. He called the legislation a compromise since it allowed individual businesses to institute the rule for their business.

Laura Lindstrand, a policy analyst for the Human Rights Commission, said the rule was put in place to clarify the 2006 law.

Backers of the bill said the rule opens doors for sexual predators and human traffickers and that the rule-making process was unsound.

“It’s an attack on our process of democracy. This did not go through a legislative process. This is a group of unelected officials,” said Angela Connelly, president of the Washington Women’s Network. “We need to make sure that everyone is safe and everyone is protected. We need to go back and rethink this.”

The Washington Women’s Network is an advocacy group that walked in the March for Life at the capitol in January.

Paul MacLurg, owner of Thrive Community Fitness in Lacey, said he could lose business because of the rule.

“Before this rule was in place the law allowed me to use my best judgment. Now, I have no good choices, no protection from the law,” he said. “This is not a gender issue. This is common sense, safety, decency and a privacy issue.”

Opponents said repealing the rule would put transgender people, who are at a higher risk of sexual assault than other people, in more danger. They also said the 2006 law has not resulted in problems that backers fear.

“Trans people are already a part of your community. It is understandably easy to fear the unknown, but we must appeal to our better nature and confront fear with facts,” said Jennifer Popkin of Seattle. “Transgender women like me are women. On a personal level I can’t imagine using a men’s bathroom.”

Ryan Trainer of Federal Way said his young daughter is transgender.

“She is who she is and she arrived this way whether we knew it or not,” he told the committee. “She is deserving of respect and protection just like all of the children in Washington state. My transgender child is not a threat, nor will she be when she grows up into a beautiful transgender woman.”

Lindstrand said the commission held four public meetings and one public comment meeting to create the rule.

A question-and-answer document created by the commission said, “The rules do not protect persons who go into a restroom or locker room under false pretenses…The rules do not prohibit asking legitimate questions about a person’s presence in a gender segregated facility.”

This story is part of a series of news reports from the Legislature provided through a reporting internship sponsored by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. Contact Reporter Izumi Hansen: hansenizumi@gmail.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.