Protect women, girls and rewrite dangerous rule

Something surprising and beautiful happened last week in Olympia.

Washington Womens Network, a bipartisan women’s advocacy group, attended a rally objecting to males going into female showers and locker rooms. Many victims of violence and sexual assault told heart-rending stories of being groomed and exploited in showers and locker rooms.

A women’s locker room is a vulnerable place. It’s not a place for men.

This is not about transgenders. It is about the poorly drafted Human Rights Commission rule that allows male bodies into female showers and locker rooms. Unfortunately, the rule is written too broadly and opens the shower room door. It was passed without following proper procedures and with virtually no public notice or participation. The head of the HRC testified that their website wasn’t even functioning so there were problems giving the public notice.

State Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Port Orchard, stated she had received more than 1,000 calls and emails from outraged citizens in her district alone. How many outraged citizens does it take? Let’s rewrite this faulty, dangerous rule.

This is an important women’s issue which should not be trivialized. It is a women’s privacy and safety issue, not about “potty.” Unfortunately, we are living in a time where 30 percent of women report suffering sexual assault. Of the 100,000 rapes a year, 99 percent of victims are female. A woman is being raped while you read this article. Human trafficking is rampant.

Under the new rule, indecent exposure outside the locker room is now acceptable inside. The comfort of .3 percent cannot trump the safety and civil rights of the rest.

For those who think the issue is overstated, there are many, many instances where victims have been exploited and attacked in locker rooms, camps, tents, cabins, bathrooms and other facilities.

KING 5 reported last week that a man, citing this new mandate, entered the girls’ locker room at Green Lake in Seattle where a young girls’ swim team was changing. He took off his clothes. The girls and adults were shocked and scared. He returned twice to the girls’ locker room. No one could stop him. This is now permissible.

Sometimes it's hard to speak up. Sometimes your knees shake, your voice quivers. Sometimes you have to stand in the rain. But as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The day we remain silent on things that matter is the day we start to die.” So we cannot remain silent. I cannot knowingly increase the risk that my 8-year-old daughter, or anyone's child, will be sexually violated.

It breaks my heart that the YMCA used to be a trusted friend and safe place. It has “unfriended me.”

After the rally was when the unexpected beautiful thing happened. There in the transgender crowd was my friend Pat. Amidst the chaos and emotion, I in my fuchsia scarf and he in his pink coat, we hugged in the drenching rain. In that borderless reality was unity and safety. With respectful dialogue there is hope.

Let’s talk!

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Protect women, girls and rewrite dangerous rule."