Virginia Delegate Mark Cole filed a new bill this week that would require that schools ensure students are using restrooms that correlate to their “correct anatomical sex”.
House Bill 663 (also known as Use of restroom facilities; penalty) defines “anatomical sex” as “the physical condition of being male or female, which is determined by a person’s anatomy” and would prohibit transgender students from using the bathroom matching their gender.
The legislation states that “Local school boards shall develop and implement policies that require every school restroom, locker room, or shower room that is designated for use by a specific gender to solely be used by individuals whose anatomical sex matches such gender designation. Such policies may also provide that a student may, upon request, be granted access, to the extent reasonable, to a single stall restroom or shower, a unisex bathroom, or controlled individual use of a restroom, locker room, or shower.”
The bill even goes as far as to administer punitive measures for students in violation of this policy. If a student willfully and knowingly violates this law, then they are subject to a fine not to exceed $50.
Civil rights advocate, Tim Peacock wrote, “This is what the conservative movement has devolved into: forcing children to allow adults to examine their genitals out of misplaced fear that transgender kids and adults might commit a hypothetical never-before-seen act of violence or sexual aggression (that would still be against the law with or without transgender protections).”