Legislation protecting transgender persons in Montgomery County suffered another blow this week as a judge sided with groups opposing that legislation, reports the Washington Post. This brings the possibility that voters will be able to decide on whether the law stays or goes even closer.

Last November, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett signed off on bill 23-07, which would protect transgender persons against discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations among others. By February, a group called Citizens for Responsible Government began petitioning to block the law from taking effect. Ultimately, they collected more than the 25,000 required signatures, the first two batches of which were certified that month.

To counter that, a group of LGBT advocates in March filed suit against the County Board of Elections after it certified the CRG petitions. But it was too little, too late according to Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg, who said the LGBT group missed the deadline for challenging the petitions. Greenberg said to the Post, “To hold otherwise would allow members of the public to challenge virtually every decision at any time.”

In particular, the CRG takes issue with the “public accommodations” portion of the legislation, which reads:

A person must not deny any person access to the equal use of any restroom, shower, dressing room, locker room, or similar facility associated with the gender identity that the person publicly or exclusively expresses or asserts.

The group has gone so far as to create a website rallying against the anti-discrimination bill – NotMyShower.net. On it, CRG claims that religious institutions will be forced to hire transgender individuals, and that the impact on children would be the most damaging aspect as “The bill mandates educational programs to promote awareness and non-discrimination of transvestites.”

Photo by billadler