Connect with Point of View   to get exclusive commentary and updates

Bathroom Bills

Legislatures and city councils have had a debate for some time about so-called “bathroom bills.” Apparently many gay activists are convinced that the next barrier to discrimination concerns transsexuals who desire to use a public bathroom of their preference rather than their biology. That is why some legislative bodies want to pass bills that would protect woman from predators.

A recent column by Frank Turek provides some insight into the debate in North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” (HB2) that could be useful to others who want to pass similar legislation. He delineates six reasons why North Carolina got it right.

First, all good laws discriminate against behaviors not people. Second, people are equal, but their behaviors are not. Good laws treat all people equally, but do not treat their behaviors equally. The very reason laws exist is because not all behaviors are equal and can have a detrimental impact on individuals and society.

Third, your identity is not your feelings but your biology. Frank Turek laments that he has to say the obvious: the reason we have separate bathrooms is because there are biological differences. Does the NBA, the NFL, or Apple allow men in women’s bathrooms? Why, he asks, do “they think North Carolina is wrongly discriminating when they are doing exactly the same thing in their businesses?”

Fourth, the danger is real from sexual predators in women’s restrooms. If you don’t think so, just watch one of the videos making the rounds that warn us what can happen and what has happened when dangerous men enter women’s restrooms.

Fifth, race and homosexual behavior are not the same. Gay activists equate the two and want to force people to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies and allow men in women’s bathrooms. Sixth, opposition to harmful behavior is not bigotry. It is wise, and that is why North Carolina got it right.

Viewpoints by Kerby Anderson

Viewpoints sign-up