Frequently Asked Questions

What is the "Bathroom Bill?"
The official and misleading name of the Bathroom Bill is "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" and has been designated HB 1728. This bill would add the vague category of "gender identity or expression" to the state ban on sex discrimination, defining it as "a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth." In other words, the bill relegates a person's sex to their state-of-mind or a mental choice, instead of basing it in biological reality. Those advocating for this bill do not believe that men are necessarily men and women are necessarily women. Rather, they believe that biology is an inconvenient fact when it comes to matters of identifying one's sex.

This bill would endanger the privacy and safety of women and children in public bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and other intimate places (such as common showers), opening them to whomever wants to be there at any given time, and also to sexual predators who claim "confusion" about their gender as a cover for their evil intentions. Since the law doesn't require a protected person to have a legitimate problem with gender confusion, there is no way to distinguish between those people that this bill is designed to help and those who will undoubtedly abuse its existence to fulfill any number of deviant desires.

No law should make whole segments of the population feel unsafe and exploit their privacy and security.

Advocates claim that the bill would not affect bathrooms. It that true?
False. The author of the bill has admitted that bathrooms will be affected. Attorney Laura Langley, of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), said in a Bay Windows article last year that under the bill "those [single sex] facilities would have to open their doors to anyone who identifies as and lives as the gender that they serve. A transgender person who identifies as a particular gender would be entitled to use bathroom, locker room and other single-sex facilities for that gender, regardless of whether or not they have had surgery or are taking hormones." Furthermore, a similar bill was recently passed in Colorado where advocates of the measure stated it would not impact bathrooms, but as soon as it passed the state issued a pamphlet saying that it does. (Click Here to see the CO-DORA brochure). A similar bill in New Hampshire, soundly defeated in March, clearly stated its impact on bathrooms.

What about my membership to a women-only fitness facility?
If this bill becomes law, all fitness clubs catering to only women would have to admit men who claim to feel like women. Their belief that they are female need not be legitimate, supported by a doctor, or even something for which they've had surgery or hormone treatments. All one would need to do to abuse this law is decide, in their own mind, that they are the opposite sex for an hour, day, year, or whatever amount of time they deem appropriate. One does not need to make a permanent choice and is free to move back and forth between being a woman or man as much or often as they like. Men would have access not only to the fitness equipment, but the locker rooms, showers, steam rooms, and other intimate areas as well. Comfort, safety, and security (both physical and emotional) would no longer be available to women who want to workout at a fitness club without men, nor to men or women who expect privacy in their locker room or shower room in any co-ed health club or recreational facility.

Isn't this bill just about giving transgender people basic rights and protections?
"Gender identity disorder" is medically classified by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. In other words, Gender Identity Disorder is classified just like bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and other serious mental diseases or disorders. We believe that transgender persons should enjoy the same legal protections as other citizens and be free of harm or harassment. MFI does not condone harm or harassment against any person, but invading everyone else's privacy and safety is going too far.

Aren't you trying to draw a direct comparison between the sexually confused and pedophiles?
Absolutely not! Our opposition to this bill is grounded in love and respect for both the mentally ill and the public at large. There are two sets of concerns at issue here and this bill addresses neither!

A bill addressing Gender Identity Disorder should both protect and care for those suffering from the disease as well as protect other vulnerable members of our society. HB 1728 does neither.

The portrayal of a sexual predator following a young girl into a public bathroom is meant to bring attention to the very real dangers that this bill would bring if enacted. As written, this bill would allow anyone, whether or not they suffer from "gender identity disorder," to enter any bathroom, dressing room, etc. that they choose to enter. Such a law would grant sexual predators a "free pass" into intimate places where they can "scout" victims. Law enforcement would be powerless to stop a crime before it started, even with known sex offenders, because HB 1728 would give the offender the absolute legal right to be within whatever intimate place they chose be. This fact should disturb everyone.

What would be the affect on public schools?
Public schools would be forced to follow the law and allow boys and girls to enter opposite gender restrooms and locker rooms. School sports would also be adversely affected. Legal experts believe that the policy of having separate boy's and girl's sports teams will be challenged under this law. Any male student could claim "gender identity" issues and join a team designated for the opposite sex, gaining a competitive edge and putting female shower safety and modesty in great peril. If one school chooses to start putting boys on its girl's basketball team, would other schools be forced to accept this change and subject its girls to a dangerous on-court situation? Do you want boys blocking, picking, and rebounding on the court with your daughters?

Additionally, teachers would be required to teach young children that their gender is a state-of-mind, not a biological fact. This means that they would be taught that they can somehow mentally change their sex and that just because they were born a boy or a girl doesn't mean that they must remain such, possessing the right to act, dress, and use whatever bathroom they prefer on any given day. For example, a teacher in Newton told her third grade class that people can have an operation to change their sex. These little children were sent home traumatized, leaving their parents to deal with the aftermath.

Does my legislator support this bill?
Over 100 legislators have signed on to support this measure. It's likely that your state representative is one of them. Advocates adopt extremely misleading language to gain support for their bill, so it is no surprise that some legislators may be unsure about the true effects of this bill, not to mention ordinary citizens. Click Here to see if your state representative and/or senator has signed on as a co-sponsor of H.B. 1728. Remember, just because a legislator is not sponsoring the bill DOES NOT mean he or she is not planning to vote for the bill. All legislators need to be notified about how you feel about this bill and alerted to its dangerous affects. Visit our Take Action page to send a communication to your legislator.

Why should I care if a man wants to call himself a woman or vice versa? That doesn't really affect me, does it?
Yes, it does. Aside from the ability of individuals to abuse these laws and invade intimate public spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, etc., this law would create an enormous public health risk by enabling sexual predators. If men can enter women's restrooms, what prevents a child predator from legally awaiting his prey in places where little girls or boys are most vulnerable, such as museum restrooms? Those who support this legislation are not fully recognizing the ramifications of such poor public policy.

What kind of public policy would this bill create?
The public policy created by this bill would be socially destructive. If we relegate sex to a mental choice for one legal purpose, then it becomes a legal choice for all purposes. Some laws are sex-specific for very good reasons, but if sex is a choice, why can a man not call himself a woman and then abuse those sex-specific policies? Abuse of any and all sex-specific laws and policies such as public nudity becomes possible if we allow this law to be enacted.