Like many other states, legislators are rushing in all their transphobic policies, attempting to turn bigotry and hate into law. Alabama’s attempt is a bit different, seeing as it demands lavatory attendants. The purpose of said attendants isn’t entirely clear.
While several conservative states are preparing “bathroom bills” for the upcoming legislative session, Alabama’s anti-LGBT bill is changing the game by requiring costly bathroom attendants.
The bill, prefiled by Alabama Sen. Phil Williams, is called the “Alabama Privacy Act.” If passed, the bill would require public places with bathrooms or changing rooms to have single-person rooms, rooms for multiple people of the same gender, or rooms for people “irrespective of their gender” staffed by a bathroom attendant.
If a public place fails to provide these options, a fine of $2,000 will be imposed for the first violation, increased to $3,500 for each violation afterward.
The bill’s language is odd for several reasons. First, the bill does nothing to define what “gender” means—something that other conservative legislatures have taken great pains to do in opposition of the transgender community. Second, it’s not entirely clear what purpose a bathroom attendant would serve in gender-neutral bathrooms. The bill says they would “monitor the use of the restroom and answer any questions or concerns posed by users.”
Answer any questions? Really. Umm, I’d think people who had no problem with a unisex type lav wouldn’t have any particular questions. Just what are they expecting here, someone to rush in with an urgent need to piss, and must know, right now, should they stand or sit? I’m pretty sure all the homophobic and transphobic bigots out there don’t want to be going into a all gender lav. Or maybe they do, what do I know?
It’s a privacy bill, so of course they want to mandate that someone remain in the bathroom full-time, preventing even the smallest chance that you might be alone for a minute.
Because privacy, duh.
Sooooo… Job creation?
I think they misspelled. It’s a “privates bill” as in “business needs to hire somebody to look at your privates”.
Also, isn’t “less regulation, less costs for business” suddenly un-Republican?
I’m honestly not sure if people are playing dumb for effect here, but it seems obvious to me at least that bathroom attendants would be there to deter/prevent sexual assault by transgender persons on cisgender persons (y’know, that HUGE problem that’s sweeping the country of trans people sexually assaulting people? You hadn’t heard?). Because “trans panic” seems to affect TERFs who discover men* in the ladies room. And the “questions and concerns” mentioned include questions such as “Why is that man in the ladies’ room?”, and so on.
And frankly, if giving someone a job -- even a literally shitty job like bathroom attendant -- is what it takes to stop this kind of transphobic nonsense and ensure everyone has somewhere safe to pee, then isn’t that better?
*as they would define them.
Yeah, saying that you need a watchperson to prevent those horribly violent trans women from sexually assaulting cis women puts a stop to this nonsense… It will totally not put trans women in danger whenever they leave that well supervised bathroom…
sonofrojblake, the attendants aren’t mandated for gendered lavs, just inclusive ones. As pointed out, people who are inclined to use an inclusive lav aren’t the people who would have problems.
Also, the mandate is for someone to just hang around in a public lav, which is creepy enough, but they have no authority, no ability to do anything special. I get you’re being sarcastic, but the whole thing is just so damn meaningless.
I’ve been in a few places where public lavs had attendants as SOP.
They were there to give you paper and towels and to take your money.
I kinda doubt they would be willing to take on a stupid new task.
Giliell, #5
Don’t take those comments seriously. sonofrojblake loves some victim blamingy stuff. This isn’t all that different from why do black parents keep naming their kids black sounding names if white people can’t help but discriminate?
I’m also going to go get myself and my family registered as Muslims. Then when we’re shown to not be causing any trouble, the bigots will no longer hate us.
Saad
I know, I know.
Probably my SWOTIS, but I can’t leave such bullshit uncommented.
That’s pretty standard in Germany. They clean the rooms and such. And occasionally, they’ll completely close one restroom and send everyone to the other one for some more thorough cleaning.
What?
WHAT?
The Mens goes to the Ladies room??!?
The Ladies goes to the Mens room!!?!
Oh, the Horror…
Yep, though I must say the experience has made me wary about unisex toilets until the dudes learn that you can pee sitting down…
Also, when the girls were younger and required assistance Mr would take them to the Ladies’ Room, can you imagine?
@Giliell, #3
We’ve known for a long time now just what is the republican opinion on the optimal size of government.
Sigh.
I so wish politicians had some sense of shame.
The bathroom attendants I’m familiar with take your money and hand out toilet paper. But that was years ago. They do some cleaning these days, too, but either way they have a booth at the entrance and don’t patrol the stalls. And they’re mostly a security measure, as they’re in really public places like the central train station, the central market, and the central bus station (I think?). Other places just got coin operated doors.
Anyway. That’s off-topic.
This is too skeezy a bill to make jokes about job creation. Sadly, I can imagine the kind of people who would apply.
Saad
Perhaps wearing a bright yellow crescent in a visible place will also help the general public see that you really are a fine, upstanding Muslim and leave you in peace.
The history of lavatory attendants in the U.S. is not a pretty one. It’s a marker of classism and slavery. Most often, an attendant was a person of colour, expected to bow and scrape, and attendants were not in public lavs as much as they were a staple of the upper class. Rich people expected to be served and waited on in every conceivable situation, and that included their time in a lav. Help with clothing, talc, perfumes, towels, yada, yada. The attendant would receive a miserly tip.
I can’t speak for anywhere else, but there’s simply no place for this sort of thing here anymore, or at least there shouldn’t be.
That history (learning moment for me, didn’t know about that aspect) just adds another extra level of wrongness to this whole pile of shit.
@Caine, 6:
Merely by their presence they’d achieve something. In the minds of the pearl-clutchers, they’ll be detering assaults. In reality, what they’d achieve is detering “I was alone in the bathroom with A MAN! In a DRESS!!!”-style complaints.
@Saad, 8:
Eh? You’re defending the “victims” who are made uncomfortable by trans people using the “wrong” bathroom? Or… what? Because those are the only people I’ve blamed for anything here.