According to this article from the AZ Republic, our fine legislature here in Arizona (committed to putting the (r)AZ in crAZy), upset by the recent anti-discrimination laws in the city of Phoenix that protect the rights of the LGB & T, including the right to use the restroom that matches the gender expression of the individual, have decided to pass a discrimination law, a "papers, please" law that will require any individual to provide a copy of their birth certificate on demand to prove that the gender marker there matches the indicated gender on the bathroom door. The penalty? A misdemeanor with heavy fines and/or jail time. If you're lucky enough to be in Maricopa County, you'll probably end up in Sheriff Joe's Tent City and probably in the population that matches your birth certificate.
All for going to the bathroom.
I would love to say that this is just a problem in Arizona. Yes, we are often distinguished by laws that target individuals. However, the bathroom issue has become the siren song of hatred against trans individuals in all corners. There is this fallacy that if trans women are allowed to use the women's restroom, it will open the door for predatory men to enter the women's room. This paranoia extends to children, such as the recent case in Colorado where a 6 year-old trans girl was banned from the girl's room by her district because penis.
But here in AZ, they cannot tolerate tolerance and as a result, we who are trans are punished for being who we are and peeing in the appropriate restroom.
What I would like is for my trans brothers to spend a day in the women's room at the AZ Capitol, armed with their birth certificates and for my trans sisters to spend a day in the men's room there. A kind of pee-in to protest this vicious legislation.
I want to add on a personal note that due to insurance issues with my employer, I have been unable to change my birth certificate as of yet, even though I have had GRS, to ensure that my spouse retains her insurance. As a result, even though every other document in my life, along with my physical being, reflects my status as a woman, my birth certificate does not. This means that should someone decide that they do not think I look female enough for their tastes, I could be asked to produce a copy of my birth certificate and, as a result, be jailed, fined and probably lose my job. So now I must change my birth certificate and hope that my insurance company does not find out and decide that my marriage is no longer valid because the name on my marriage license does not match the one on my birth certificate.