Arizona State Representative John Kavanagh has backed away from his initial attempt to regulate bathroom usage by transgender people which would have criminalized trans people using the correct bathroom, and is now instead trying to take away the protections for transgender people that were granted by the Phoenix City Council last month on a statewide basis.

Rather than criminalizing trans people who want to use the correct bathroom, Kavanagh now wants to legally protect those who wish to prevent them from doing so.

From KTVK:

Facing mounting public criticism, Rep. John Kavanagh said he no longer wants to make it a crime for transgendered people to use the bathroom of the opposite sex.

Now, the Republican says he pushing a law that protects businesses from criminal prosecution and lawsuits if they deny transgendered people from entering the restroom in which they identify with.

Outrageous claims like this, that pretend that the public needs to be protected from transgender people, (and not the other way around) are what ultimately lead to more discrimination, more harassment, and in some cases, more violence against an already marginalized community.

The bill is scheduled to be heard before the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday, at 2PM local time in the House of Representatives building on the north side of the plaza in front of the capital. Advocates say the hearing will be held in room HHR1, which is a small room only sitting roughly 60 members of the public, and they are asking for local supporters of the transgender community to make their voices heard.

Read more at the Transgender Law Center.

TAKE ACTION

You can let the committee members know how you feel about this bill by contacting them at any of the methods below:

Chairman: John Kavanagh (R) jkavanagh@azleg.gov 602-926-5170



Vice-Chair: Justin Olson (R) jolson@azleg.gov 602-926-5288 https://www.facebook.com/justin.olson.779



Lela Alston (D) lalston@azleg.gov 602-926-5829 https://www.facebook.com/lela.alston.5



Rick Gray (R) rgray@azleg.gov 602-926-5993 https://www.facebook.com/rickgrayaz



Michelle Ugenti (R) mugenti@azleg.gov 602-926-4480 https://www.facebook.com/michelle.rita.ugenti



Paul Boyer (R) pboyer@azleg.gov 602-926-4173 https://www.facebook.com/pauldboyer



Adam Kwasman (R) akwasman@azleg.gov 602-926-5839 https://www.facebook.com/AdamKwasman



Chad Campbell (D) chcampbell@azleg.gov 602-926-3026 https://www.facebook.com/chad.campbell.52687



Stefanie Mach (D) smach@azleg.gov 602-417-3126 https://www.facebook.com/StefanieMachAZ



Thomas Forese (R) tforese@azleg.gov 602-926-5168



Andrew Sherwood (D) asherwood@azleg.gov 602-926-3028 https://www.facebook.com/sherwood.andrew





MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

You can also sign this All Out petition to tell Arizona lawmakers that discrimination like this has no place in state law.