Tennessee Passes Bills Protecting Right to Privacy in Intimate Areas

A pair of bills guarantee privacy from the opposite sex for students, and provide information for individuals to make informed choices in public restrooms

On May 14th, Tennessee passed the first bill in the country to successfully accommodate the privacy needs of gender non-confirming students while also protecting single-sex spaces. The Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act allows any student to request a “reasonable accommodation” to gain access to a bathroom or changing facility to meet their privacy needs, as long as that facility isn’t in use solely by members of the opposite sex. On May 17th, Tennessee passed TN HB 1182, which requires businesses to post a notice if they allow people to use their bathrooms regardless of their sex — a compromise that helps the public make informed decisions for their own privacy and safety, while not intruding upon the rights of private businesses to make their own policy choices.

So-called “bathroom bills” have stirred up significant controversy in recent years. Extreme ”gender identity” activists have argued in courthouses and local school board meetings across the country that sex-specific public bathrooms should be made available for anyone who claims to identify as that sex, regardless of reality. They claim that being forced to use facilities designated for their sex, or a third restroom, is potentially stigmatizing or even dangerous. This argument ignores the right to privacy from individuals of the opposite sex in intimate areas like showers and bathrooms, and that all people, including schoolchildren, have a right to feel comfortable and safe in vulnerable settings.

The Accommodations for All Children Act is a promising solution to this conflict, and provides broad privacy protections for students in an era where privacy protections are continuously eroding. This bill allows any student to request additional privacy measures in multi-occupancy rooms at school, regardless of the reason. This will protect students with social anxiety, negative body image, and those concerned about bullying and harassment from being forced to use communal facilities. This includes students who identify as “transgender,” and furthermore, addresses concerns of stigmatization since such accommodations are now available for all. The bill also provides a private right of action for students who encounter members of the opposite sex knowingly allowed into bathrooms or shared sleeping quarters, and grants them the ability to recover damages for any physical, emotional, or psychological harm suffered. This could help prevent confusion like that suffered by a kindergarten girl in Wisconsin, when a middle-aged male teacher at her school began using restrooms designated for girls while students were present. 

The Act also correctly defines sex in a common-sense way, as based on immutable biological characteristics determined by genetics. This gives women and girls the maximum possible benefit from civil rights laws enacted to protect them. Attempts by gender activists to redefine sex undermine these protections and harm women and girls in athletics, women’s shelters, restrooms and changing rooms, and many other contexts.

Additionally, Tennessee’s approach of narrowly targeting bathrooms and changing rooms in schools shows remarkable restraint from over-legislation. For example, this bill wouldn’t criminalize women using the men’s bathroom at a women’s conference when the line for the women’s restroom was unusually long. Several previous attempts at drafting “bathroom bills” have suffered from over-criminalizing actions that stray too far from the bill’s primary purpose, and provided too much government intrusion into the daily life of Americans and the policies of private companies and institutions. While WoLF wholeheartedly supports single-sex intimate facilities, we are reluctant to invite too much government intrusion into an area that would normally be outside the bounds of most government intervention. We have learned from experience that we cannot rely on the government to consider the needs of women and girls.

However, women and girls require single-sex intimate facilities in order to meaningfully and fully participate in public life. It is encouraging to see legislators and administrators defend the value of these spaces, the constitutional and ethical rights of the students who rely on them, and reject activist ideology that claims girls must undress and shower in front of male classmates in the name of “inclusivity.”

HB 1182 similarly protects women who want the safety and dignity of single-sex spaces by requiring that buildings or facilities open to the general public must provide fair notice to the public if they do not provide these spaces where they are otherwise expected. Facilities that allow a member of either biological sex to use any public restroom in the facility regardless of the designation on the door must post a sign clearly reading: “This facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex, regardless of the designation on the restroom.”

While we hope most businesses recognize the importance of providing safe bathrooms for women and girls in creating a society in which women may fully and freely participate, these notices are an important step toward helping women recognize areas they may be in danger. Likewise, the notices will clearly indicate the presence of mixed-sex facilities to those who prefer them. 

Together, these bills provide an example of how states can protect women and girls, without infringing upon the rights of business owners or gender non-conforming students. We hope more states will follow Tennessee’s lead in protecting and designating single-sex spaces.