Minnesota is among at least 13 states, according to a count by Reuters, considering bills that would prevent transgender people from using public bathrooms that don't respond to their birth sex.
North Carolina last week became the first state to enact a law requiring transgender people to choose restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than the one with which they identify.
So far North Carolina stands alone.
Governors in Georgia and Virginia vetoed such bills this week, saying they could have allowed state-sanctioned discrimination, and the governors of other states, including neighboring South Dakota, have threatened to do so if and when the bills reach their desks.
Last week, Minnesota Republican lawmakers unveiled a bill that would prevent transgender people from using public bathrooms that don't correspond with their "biological sex."
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Several of our area legislators have offered their support to such legislation. Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Lake Shore, and Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, are all listed as sponsors of the House bill and Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, is a sponsor of the Senate version.
It's understandable our area legislators would sign on to such a cause as it reflects their conservative values. But is this the time in which to do so? In an already short legislative session, this appears to be an answer to a problem that doesn't exist in Minnesota, especially central Minnesota. To date we've heard of no one harmed by using the same bathroom as a transgender person.
Gov. Mark Dayton has said he would veto a transgender bathroom bill, so the bill looks to be a non-starter anyway.
There are so many other issues to which the Legislature could focus its attention. For example, long-term transportation funding was a hot button issue last year but nothing happened, and at a pre-session gathering hosted by the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce, area legislators identified it as a priority this session as well.
Other priorities that should be addressed include: DNR funding for state park infrastructure; a bonding bill; a tax bill; MNsure issues; economic aid package for the Mille Lacs Lake area; discussion of the racial disparity issues that were so important to Dayton; just to name a few.
Perhaps this is the session in which solutions are offered to real issues affecting all Minnesotans.
