The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 116-36 to pass a bill that replaces the term "biological sex" with "gender identity" in multiple areas of the state's laws. The lawmakers also dismissed an amendment that could ban convicted sex offenders from using bathrooms for the opposite biological sex.
The bill now only requires the signature of Governor Charlie Baker for it to be implemented across the state.
The bill, H.4343, will also push for amendment of different rules to comply with reinterpretation of sex as gender identity.
The legislators rejected 36 amendments before passage of the bill. Amendment 9 would have allowed public accommodation to ban sex offenders from using bathroom not aligned with their biological sex.
Critics of the bill said that it does not respect privacy rights of a majority of population by letting biological males and females to use the restrooms of other sex.
"This legislation takes rights away from 99.9 percent of the population," Rep. James Lyons of Andover told the Conservative Review. "Every parent that I have spoken with including a parent of a transgender child understands that this bill eliminates long held expectation of privacy and protection for children."
"The bill allows people on a routine basis to decide if they are male or female. Your anatomy is no longer relevant. This has absolutely nothing to do with discrimination, it has everything to do with changing our society and social engineering by those on the left," Rep. James Lyons said.
Rep. John Fernandes said that no incidence of crime were recorded in the 17 states where the law is implemented to allow transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Rep. Sheila Harrington also said that the assertions of the opponents of bill are based on hypothetical situations which have not happened.
Recently, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union Georgia chapter Maya Dillard Smith resigned over the organization's stance on bathroom policy, after encountering people from other sex in a public bathroom.
"I have shared my personal experience of having taken my elementary school age daughters into a women's restroom when shortly after three transgender young adults over six feet with deep voices entered," said Smith. "My children were visibly frightened, concerned about their safety and left asking lots of questions for which I, like many parents, was ill-prepared to answer."
The episode led her to be concerned about the safety of her young daughters, and launched a website titled, 'Finding Middle Ground' which urges people to openly discuss all the aspects related to this issue.
