A 60-second ad showing the challenges faced by transgender people, including access to public restrooms, will air during the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
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It features a transgender woman from North Carolina, which became a flashpoint in the fight for accessibility of public restrooms. The woman, who is dining with friends, excuses herself to go to the restroom only to be told by a guy who appears to be the manager that she has to use the men’s facilities.
“Creating this visibility on a national scale is crucial in our effort to bring equality, fairness and dignity to transgender people in every state, ” said Jay Brown, a spokesman for Human Rights Campaign. ” Anti-transgender extremists continue to use scare tactics and spread lies, and we have to fight them by putting a spotlight on how these laws hurt transgender people who just wish to live and work without fear of discrimination or violence.”
Earlier this year, North Carolina passed HB2, the so-called bathroom bill, required transgender people to use the restroom assigned to their gender listed at their birth rather than how they identify. A recent survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality shows that 59 percent of transgender people avoided bathrooms in the last year out of fear of harassment.
The ad will air on FOX News Channel on July 21, during the final night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. It will then air again on MSNBC during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia one week later.
If you don't plan to watch either convention, the ad can be seen at www.FairnessUSA.org.
More than 200 bills targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were introduced in dozens of states during the 2016 legislative session, according to Fairness USA, which paid for the ad.
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