TALLAHASSEE — LGBT advovacy groups are gearing up for a legislative floor fight on March 3 over a House bill that would restrict all public, single-sex restrooms and dressing rooms to persons of that gender only.

Introduced by Rep. Frank Artiles on Feb. 4 and dubbed the “Show Your Papers To Pee Bill”, HB-538 says that anyone caught using the wrong facility in Florida would be arrested and charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, an offense that is punishable with a $1,000 fine and up to 12 months in jail.

This bill requires that individuals suspected of breaking the law show their birth certificate as proof of gender.

Artiles said his bill is in response to a Miami-Dade ordinance passed in December that plugs a public safety loophole for male sexual predators. Any inconvenience imposed on transgender people is an afterthought, he said.

“People are not forced to go the restroom. They choose to go to the restroom,” said Artiles.

Civil rights organizations have voiced concern over the bill.

“This ‘show your papers to pee bill’ denigrates both transgender and non-transgender people alike,” said Daniel Tilley, an LGBT lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “In addition to dehumanizing transgender people in particular, it invites humiliation and harassment of anyone who is not considered sufficiently feminine or masculine in the eyes of the beholder.”

Other Florida politicians are also coming out against the bill.

Rep. Janet Cruz (D-Tampa) said, “A bill labeling members of our transgender community as criminals for living their lives is an abomination and an embarrassment.” Rep. David Richardson (D-Miami Beach) mentioned that the bill would not only affect the LGBT community but will also cause new public safety problems. “Parents with small children should be concerned about sending their tiny children into a public bathroom by themselves.”

The ACLU, which defeated a similar Arizona bill in 2013, and Change.org are asking members of the community to sign petitions.

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