1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I'm calling on you to oppose any anti-transgender bathroom ban legislation in our state. These bills are dehumanizing and should be immediately shunned. The penalties proposed in similar legislation across the country are grotesque. Some bills carry up to one year in jail for a first offense, with subsequent violations escalating to felonies with years in prison. Criminalizing people for using a bathroom is indefensible. These bills also endanger people they were never meant to target. Cisgender women, gender nonconforming people, and anyone who doesn't fit narrow gender expectations will be harassed and criminalized. Women with short hair, masculine features, or who simply don't conform to stereotypes have already been removed from restrooms and denied access to public spaces. Even law enforcement has opposed these measures where they've been proposed. Officers have no reasonable way to enforce bathroom bans without invasive questioning. These bills weaponize police against residents for simply existing in public. Bathroom bans are cruel, unenforceable, and will invite costly lawsuits. Stand against this legislation.