An east Alabama city wants to send people to jail for not using public restrooms corresponding with their biological sex. It’s the latest move in an ongoing battle over transgender rights in the United States.
The city council of Oxford, just east of Birmingham, has passed a law preventing transgender residents and visitors from using public restrooms and other facilities that don’t coincide with the gender on their birth certificate. Violators could be fined $500 or spend up to six months behind bars.
The Oxford City Council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance. Members of the council did not respond to repeated request for comment.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy organization calls the ordinance “a shameful and vile attack on the rights and privacy of transgender people.”