Transgender bathroom policy debated at Maryland courthouse

The employees of a county courthouse in Maryland are arguing about the transgender bathroom policy that is being implemented in the state.

The debate was stirred when the Office of the Chief Clerk sent a memo about Maryland's transgender laws, which encompass bathroom use policies, that were enacted back in 2014. Some visitors reportedly asked about Washington County courthouse's bathroom use policies, prompting the memo to be sent out.

The 2014 law, called the Fairness for All Marylanders Act, forbids discrimination based on a person's gender identity. Thus, it allows transgender people to use bathrooms based on their gender identity or the gender they identify with, not the gender they were born with.

However, Del. Neil Parrott said it could allow people like rapists and pedophiles, who do not need to pose as women, to take advantage of women in the restroom.

Parrott said it could open up situations in which young women and children could get hurt.

"It's a real shame. Thirty or 40 years ago, no one would have thought we would have this discussion," Parrot said, according to Herald Media. "If there's a man walking into the girl's room, that creates confusion .... They don't need to pose as a woman — they can just walk right in," Parrott said.

However, Del. Brett Wilson, R-Hagerstown, believes the restrooms in the courthouse will not likely pose a threat to young kids, simply because there really aren't a lot of children in the courthouse unlike in other locations. He pointed out that the district court is "not a court of juvenile justice."

On the other hand, he agreed that the transgender bathroom law can give sexual predators access to women's bathrooms when they never had such access before.

"There's always the opportunity to misuse restrooms," he said.

However, Wilson said he would abide by the law, as he has always done.

"It's the law," he said. "The General Assembly passed it .... As long as it's the law, I'll abide by it."