More Republican legislators arrested for bathroom misconduct than trans people

Congratulations, you played yourself.

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Complex Original

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Research shows the only thing Republican lawmakers have to fear when it comes to inappropriate behavior in bathrooms is—wait for it—themselves.

At least three Republican legislators have been arrested for soliciting or performing sexual acts in a bathroom, according to NewNowNext.

But lawmakers in North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, and Texas have been pointing the finger at trans people. Those states continue relying on the claim that sexual predators will be able access to women's bathrooms if trans people are allowed to use facilities that match their gender identities instead of the sex assigned on their birth certificates. 

Media Matters, a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring media for conservative misinformation, found that no actual incidents involving predatory transgender people have occurred. What stories have circulated in the press have all turned out to be false and perpetuated by hate groups. 

There has never been a single reported case of sexual abuse perpetrated by a transgender person in a bathroom.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality told NTRSCTN that there has never been a single reported case of sexual abuse perpetrated by a transgender person in a bathroom.

Instead, it seems to be Republican legislators who pose the real bathroom threat. 

John Hinson, a former Mississippi congressman, was arrested in 1981 for oral sodomy. He was discovered in a Capitol Hill building bathroom with a Library of Congress male employee, The New York Times reported. Even though the incident forced his resignation, Hinson used the moment to reassess his life, come out as gay, and begin advocating for gay rights.

In 2007, Idaho politician Larry Craig was arrested as part of a sex-sting in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. To make matters worse, he allegedly used campaign funds to pay for his legal defense when he decided to switch his plea from guilty to disorderly conduct. A federal judge later ordered Craig to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for those funds to the tune of $242,000, according to the Washington Post. Craig defended his spending, stating that Senate rules allowed him to use funds for costs incurred during travel.

Lastly, former Florida state representative Bob Allen was arrested in 2007 after he allegedly agreed to pay an undercover male police officer for oral sex in a park bathroom. He was later found guilty of the crime, according to Orlando Sentinel

It seems like Republican lawmakers pose a greater risk—one that has actually been documented—than trans people when it comes to inappropriate behavior in bathrooms.

On Monday, several activist groups filed a lawsuit against North Carolina for passing House Bill 2, which effectively discriminates against the LGBT community. The bill especially targets transgendered people, who will be required to use the bathroom associated with the sex on their birth certificate, and not their gender identity.

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