Christian conservative Linda Harvey has
criticized a proposed Cleveland, Ohio ordinance that would prohibit
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in
public accommodations.
The proposed legislation is being
championed by Councilmen Joe Cimperman and Matt Zone and will be
discussed at a Workforce and Community Benefits Committee set for
Wednesday.
Harvey, president of the Columbus-based
Mission America, drew outrage from a Cleveland Plain Dealer
headline which stated that the proposal would “open all public
restrooms and showers to both sexes.”
Reporter Leila Atassi repeated the
claim in the
story's text: “Cleveland City Council is considering an
ordinance that would require businesses to make their restrooms,
showers and locker rooms available to both sexes.”
But the bill's aim is clearly not to
force unisex facilities. Instead it would allow transgender people
to access “facilities consistent with their gender identity or
expression.”
“It's where the entire transgender
nonsense has always been heading: open restrooms for both sexes, by
law, punishable by fines,” Harvey wrote in a Barbwire.com op-ed.
“So if a woman is alone in a business
and sees some guy follow her into the restroom – and you know this
will start to happen – and she screams and makes a huge fuss to
draw attention to the male invading her privacy, SHE is the one who
will get slapped with a $1,000 fine.”
“I guess it's okay with these callous
ideologues for authentic women and girls, not 'transwomen,' to
experience a few rough episodes of rape, child assault, public
exposure, etc., all for the greater good, right?” she rhetorically
asked.
Zone is quoted by the Plain
Dealer as saying that the legislation is “long overdue.”
“We're in the 21st
century, and it would allow Clevelanders to feel comfortable in their
own environment and to use facilities that they're most comfortable
with.”
Alan Jochum of Equality Ohio said that
the legislation was meant to protect transgender people.
“A transwoman who is forced to enter
a male restroom is subject to a much greater safety risk than if she
uses the restroom she most identifies with,” Jochum said.