Leaders of a Montgomery County social issues group said they have enough signatures to force a new law that bars discrimination against transgender people to go before voters in November.
Volunteers working with the organization Citizens for a Responsible Government said they turned in more than 31,000 signatures to the County’s Board of Elections Office Tuesday.
If 25,000 of those signatures are legible, from registered voters and contain valid addresses and birthdates the board will put the repeal of the measure to county voters on November’s ballot.
The group has argued that the new law, which unanimously passed the County Council in November and was approved by County Executive Ike Leggett, puts women and children at greater risk of assault in places like public restrooms. Supporters of the measure say that is inaccurate because the policy does nothing to change existing law about how the public can access public restrooms or locker rooms.
“The reality is we did nothing to change existing law about how we access public restrooms or locker rooms,” Montgomery Council President Mike Knapp said. “There’s an exemption for private places, there always was and there always will be.”
Citizens for a Responsible Government spokeswoman Michelle Turner said the law is too broad. Her group wants it expressly written to bar a man dressing as a woman to access a women’s restroom. She says the group also wants the bill to exempt religious institutions and schools from complying with the measure, so if a school chooses not to hire an otherwise qualified instructor because they are transgender, they will not be “subject to a lawsuit.”
“You’re walking a fine line here, what do you say to a child who has Mr. Jones as a teacher, and when the new school year begins it is Miss Smith?” Turner said, adding that she does not have a problem with gay teachers who “keep their personal lives private as all teachers should.”
“Keeping personal lives out of the classroom is something parents expect of any teacher,” Turner said. “But it is a little more difficult when you have this very masculine person dressing and presenting themselves as something totally different.”
Bill proponents say at least 90 other jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and 13 states prohibit discrimination against transgender people.
