FLORIDA: Anti-Trans Bill Is Dead

The Advocate explains the failed bill:

The office of Florida State Rep. Frank Artiles confirms his controversial bill, aimed to punish anyone who uses a public bathroom that doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth, is dead — and cannot be revived, as this legislative session is over. HB 583, the “Single-Sex Public Facilities” bill, or as it was dubbed, Florida’s “Bathroom Bill,” would have made it illegal for any trans citizen to use a single-sex restroom that does not match the gender they were assigned at birth. Such a violation would result in a first-degree misdemeanor charge, punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail. The law would also open the owner of any establishment where a trans person uses the restroom to lawsuits from other patrons, as they would be "liable in a civil action to any person who is lawfully using the same single-sex public facility." Artiles filed the bill in response to a recent ordinance that banned discrimination based on gender identity and expression in public facilities throughout Miami-Dade County, noted the Miami Herald. The lawmaker explained his proposed bill as a way to ensure "public safety," rather than a means to criminalize trans citizens.