Lewis County Commissioners Edna Fund, Bill Schulte and Gary Stamper all oppose a new state rule requiring buildings open to the public to allow transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with.
“Quite frankly, allowing individuals into either bathroom is absurd,” Schulte said.
The commissioners heard from two like-minded Lewis County residents at a Monday meeting.
Bob Bozarth, of Chehalis, and Hillary Harader, of Centralia, expressed safety concerns, primarily for children, with the new rule.
Schulte said if the rule is not changed, it could lead to single-person bathrooms in some public buildings.
Harader said she thinks changing bathrooms to accommodate other people’s lifestyles would be a “ridiculous waste of money.”
Using the Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatics Center in Chehalis as an example, she noted that it was recently remodeled and questioned if it would need to be renovated for the rule and how the rule would affect pool patrons.
“So when our kids are showering in there and a man walks in, are we going to be sued if we say something? Is the Chehalis pool going to be sued if they say something?” Harader said.
Fund said if criminal behavior occurs, people can call the police.
“A man standing in front of a small child or woman is molestation, just standing there,” Harader said.
Schulte said schools probably will have a more challenging time dealing with the new rule than other entities.
The Centralia School District emailed a statement on the rule to The Chronicle following inquiries Monday.
According to the statement, the district has not amended any policy or adopted new policy in regard to the new rule and is awaiting guidance from its attorney and the Washington State School Directors’ Association.
Until any policy changes are made, the administrative staff will consider requests by transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room of the gender they identify with on a case-by-case basis.
“And (the district) will make every reasonable effort to accommodate any such request in a way that respects and upholds the rights and dignity of all students,” the statement reads.
A call to Chehalis School District Superintendent Ed Rothlin for comment about the rule was not returned by Monday afternoon.
Bozarth requested that the commissioners work with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office to “stop this government overreach” by the Washington State Human Rights Commission, which adopted the rule in late December.
“It’s a threat to the safety and welfare of the citizens of this county,” Bozarth said.
Bozarth said he is concerned that a bill state Rep. Graham Hunt, R-Orting, is sponsoring will not be heard by the Legislature this session.
According to a Jan. 4 post on Hunt’s Facebook page, his bill would make gender segregation OK and require people to use bathrooms or locker rooms based on their current anatomy.
Fund, who sits on the county’s legislative steering committee, said the group has been discussing the topic.
The new rule took effect Dec. 26.
The draft rule previously required schools to “assess the use of locker rooms by transgendered students on a case-by-case basis.”
