COLUMBIA, SC (AP) — A South Carolina senator wants to bar local governments from requiring businesses to let transgender people use the bathroom of their choice, saying he’s taking a “stand for decency and common sense.”
The bill introduced Wednesday by Sen. Lee Bright would also require multistall bathrooms on public property to be designated and used “based on biological sex.”
Bright says how private businesses handle their bathrooms should be up to the owners, not government. He knows of no city in South Carolina where that’s an issue, but he supports a controversial North Carolina law that’s drawn a backlash nationwide.
Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin supports the bill, saying he doesn’t want “cross-dressers” going into a bathroom with his granddaughters.
Martin says the best way to accommodate people is to have unisex bathrooms.
