The bill was penned by Republican freshman Rep. Ken Fredette, who was a member of the Maine Human Rights commission when the two trans bathroom rights cases were favorably ruled on.
Fredette stated his bill would prevent the Maine Human Rights Commission from being able to find that public and private entities discriminate when they force trans people to use restrooms that are opposite of their gender identity and presentation. This would prevent trans people from suing, as the people in the Orono schools and Denny’s situations did, Fredette argued.
“The concept here is there is not an absolute right for a transgender to go into the bathroom they identify with,” Fredette said in front of the overflowing crowd Tuesday. “We have to draw lines in this society so we balance rights with the rights of everyone else.”
My people have the right to pee in the gender appropriate restroom, Rep. Fredette.
Fredette's opinion is thankfully a minority one that is hopefully shared by other legislators on the Judiciary Committee. According to the Bangor Daily News, of the approximately four hours of testimony given in Tuesday's hearing, only 30 minutes of it was taken up by people in favor of Fredette's unjust bill.
Unfortunately one of the people in favor of it is Maine's Tea Klux Klan Governor Paul LePage. The Maine Civil Liberties Union and several other organizations spoke in opposition to it.
The bill is still pending in the Judiciary Committee.
