Florida Board of Governors to Consider Transgender Bathroom Law

The state board that oversees Florida's university system will consider a new law on Wednesday that could keep transgender people from choosing a restroom according to their gender identity or face termination from their jobs.

Regulation 14.010, or "Designation of Restrooms and Changing Facilities," says that state universities must have both unisex restrooms and "restrooms designated for exclusive use by females and restrooms designated for exclusive use by males," and that employees who fail to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex at birth are to face disciplinary actions that could include getting fired.

The new regulation also indicates the new rules must be in accordance with previously established Florida laws, which state that bathroom facilities must correspond to a person's sex assigned at birth.

The new rule would be applied to institutions like University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida.

Earlier in August, the Florida Board of Education also approved a similar law, which allowed state college employees to be fired f they use a bathroom or changing room that doesn’t correspond with their gender assigned at birth.

This earlier law has harsher implications: a second offense "must result in a termination." According to the newly considered Regulation 14.010, punishment can include dismissal, but not necessarily.

"These laws are being weaponized against LGBTQ+ people, needlessly endangering the safety and well-being of students on campuses across the states of Florida and Texas. Already we are hearing from prospective students and families that they are choosing colleges elsewhere," Shane Mendez Windmeyer, CEO of the LGBTQ advocate nonprofit Campus Pride, told the Tallahassee Democrat.