Target’s decision to allow transgender customers and employees to use the bathroom and fitting room of their choice is now illegal in Oxford, Alabama.
Any transgender people who break the new law inside that city’s Target store or elsewhere in Oxford, could receive a $500 fine or six months in jail.
Oxford’s city council president tells WBRC, “The policy creates an unsafe environment,” said Steven Waits. “It’s being put in to protect women, children and families from voyeurs, child molesters, exhibitionists, sexual predators and others who might use these policies to their advantage,” said Waits.
However, enforcing the new ordinance will be challenging.
After a person calls police, officers would then have to arrive and witness the misdemeanor crime in progress, which might take longer than the time it takes to simply use the restroom.
North Carolina passed a similar measure in March, and another is being proposed in Minnesota, where Target is headquartered.
Target has already faced a petition from the American Family Association, signed by more than 500,000 people who vow to boycott the national chain for their transgender stance on restrooms.
Target’s response to that boycott was that their new policy would remain in effect.
Meanwhile, a transgender teen in Ocala, Florida will not be allowed to use the high school boy’s bathroom.
The Marion County School Board just voted to limit restrooms based on a student’s birth sex, not their gender identity.
The teen, who was born female but identifies as a male, had been allowed to use the boy’s bathroom for the past few months.
However, a parent complained after his son felt uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with the other teen, saying his privacy was violated.
