Massachusetts is poised to enact sweeping legislation that would open all public restrooms, showers, and intimate accommodations to members of the opposite biological sex. In the process, legislators rejected an amendment that would bar convicted sex offenders from accessing the facilities of the opposite sex. The bill (H. 4343) passed the state House of Representatives on Wednesday, 116-36, with the support of eight Republicans and the opposition of 12 Democrats.
The proposal would reorient state laws away from a biological understanding of sexuality by replacing the word “sex” with “gender identity” in existing state laws. It also requires “any public accommodation…without limitation” to allow people to use the intimate facilities of their preferred gender at the time. It now goes to reconciliation with the Senate. READ MORE
