North Carolina lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 516, the Women’s Safety and Protection Act, which would require individuals to use restrooms in public schools and some government-funded buildings based on the sex listed on their birth certificate.
The bill also restricts transgender people from the right to change the gender on their birth certificate and would also require all driver's licenses to reflect a person's sex at birth.
Supporters say the bill is about protecting privacy and safety. In a press release, NC Values Coalition Press Director Ashley Vaughan applauded the bill, saying, “North Carolina must return to the common-sense understanding that men are men, women are women, and men should not be allowed to rob women of their safety and privacy by invading their private spaces.”
Critics argue the bill targets transgender people and revives the controversy of 2016’s HB2. In a public statement, Time Out Youth, a local nonprofit, said “enate Bill 516 "reintroduces the trauma of a bathroom bill to our state” and that a wave of legislation “is designed to erase the identities, dignity and rights of queer and trans young people.”
According to Axios Raleigh, numerous state legislatures have implemented laws restricting bathroom access, and President Trump has made rolling back transgender rights a top priority of his administration.
On today’s episode, we take a clear-eyed look at the bill — what it says, where it’s going, and who it affects. We’ll hear from both sides, as proponents and opponents of the bill make their case.
GUESTS
Lucille Sherman, reporter at Axios
Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition
Sarah Mikhail, executive director of Time Out Youth
