Transgender rights laws spread, not always calmly

[Dems4HowardDean]

Transgender rights laws spread, not always calmly
By DAVID CRARY - AP National Writer

NEW YORK --As more state and local governments extend anti-bias protections to transgender people, fierce opposition is surfacing. In Colorado, conservatives contend a new state law will enable sexual predators to frequent women's bathrooms; in Maryland a "Not My Shower" campaign seeks to overturn a comparable county law.

Though frustrated by the resistance, and insistent that the alarms are unfounded, transgender-rights activists are heartened by an overall trend toward greater protection under the law. In the past 15 years, 13 states and more than 90 cities and counties - home to roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population - have passed measures banning various types of discrimination against transgender people.

Among those jurisdictions is Maryland's affluent Montgomery County, where the county council voted 8-0 last year to extend civil rights protections for housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of gender identity.

Opponents, contending the law threatens privacy in public restrooms and health-club showers, launched a petition campaign to put the issue to voters in Nov. 4 general election. Election officials ruled that enough valid signatures were gathered, but gay-rights groups were in court Thursday seeking to quash the ballot measure because of alleged irregularities.
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