An Indiana Republican has proposed a
bill which would criminalize the use of a restroom that does not
conform to a person's gender at birth.
Indiana state Senator Jim Tomes'
proposed bill prescribes up to a year in jail and fines as high as
$5,000 for a person convicted of entering a bathroom that does not
conform to his or her gender at birth.
“We've walked through a doorway we'll
never go back through. And we're going to have to address some
concerns that are now facing us,” Tomes
told the AP on Thursday. “If you were born a man, then you are
obligated to use the males' restroom.”
The bill does not exempt students,
though they would not face criminal penalties.
LGBT rights advocate Freedom Indiana
denounced the bill as a “scare tactic” intended to “promote
fear over reality.”
Earlier this year, Governor Mike Pence
was pressured to backtrack on language included in the state's
version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which he signed.
Pence “fixed” the bill by adding a set of narrow LGBT
protections.
Two conservative groups have challenged
Pence's “fix” in court, claiming that the law's LGBT protections
violate their religious liberties.
(Related: Indiana
anti-gay groups challenge “religious freedom” law's LGBT
protections.)