Kentucky city passes bathroom ordinance despite lawsuit concerns

Published 12:59 pm Saturday, May 21, 2016

FLATWOODS, Ky. — The Flatwoods City Council, located in northeastern Kentucky , passed an ordinance Saturday prohibiting use of single-gender bathrooms by anyone whose birth certificate indicates the opposite gender, adding the city to the growing list of U.S. communities creating such bathroom policies. 

The ordinance was approved after a second reading in a special-called meeting. It passed 5-0, after Flatwoods Councilman Ray Sloan abstained from the vote. The ordinance, which applies to government buildings only, places the same restrictions on locker rooms and shower facilities.

School districts and cities in North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Kansas and Virginia have all passed such ordinances designed to curtail public bathroom use to user’s born sex, despite a federal directive issued by President Barrack Obama last week to allow public school students to use facilities aligned with the gender they identify with. 

Government buildings in Flatwoods include the city building, park and pool buildings, the post office and all four schools in the Russell district.

Councilman Gray Tomblyn sponsored the legislation in Kentucky in response the federal directive which warned school systems could lose funding if it isn’t followed.

Before the ordinance passed, the council granted members of the audience a chance to voice their concerns at the podium. More than 25 Flatwoods residents observed the meeting, which started at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“I fear what’s going to happen when my great-grandchildren go to the restroom,” said Valda Mayo, 78. “We need to teach our children right from wrong, and sex wrong from right. A boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. We need to teach them where to go to the restroom and how to conduct themselves.”

Some in attendance who spoke to the council, like 18-year-old Corey Bush of Flatwoods, questioned the purpose of the ordinance.

“Why is this an issue? What’s the motive behind this? Why not use this energy to help the community? The drug crisis, the opioid epidemic,” said Bush. “We are not well off, economically. Flatwoods is not boastful of its money.”

Chris Hartman, director of Louisville-based Fairness Campaign, warned of legal ramifications if the city moves forward with the ordinance. Cities where such ordinances have been passed have faced costly lawsuits. 

“This a dangerous ordinance for the city,” said Hartman. “I think it’s not a surprise to you all to say that there’s no question that the city of Flatwoods will be sued.”

Hartman reffered to a similar ordinance passed by Oxford, Alabama last month. The city repealed the ordinance shortly after its approval in the wake of potential lawsuits.

“I don’t know why folks might think that Flatwoods will fare better in a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government than North Carolina. This will bring untold headaches on the entire community and potentially, financial ruin,” said Hartman, who led protests last fall in Morehead against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Opponents of the federal directive say allowing transgendered people to use different bathrooms than their born sex would endanger women and children in public bathrooms and locker rooms by allowing sexual predators to claim confusion about their gender to enter private areas. 

Johnsey Collins of Flatwoods said letting transgender people choose the bathroom they identify with “opens the door for sex offenders.”

After hearing some public input, Mayor Ron Fields weighed in. “The mayor has nothing do with ordinances. This is a council decision. It’s your all’s call,” he told the council members.

Tomblyn proceeded to ask Fields five times if he agreed with the federal directive regarding bathrooms in public schools.

“Mr. Mayor, do you agree with President Obama’s public restroom directive?” said Tomblyn.

“Do I agree with the executive order? He is the president of the United States. Whether I like it or not, I have to respect that office,” said Fields.

“Do you agree with it? Do you agree with it, yes or no?” Tomblyn said.

“I said, he is the president and he has made an executive order,” said Fields.

“Do you agree with it?” said Tomblyn.

“Do I agree with Mr. Obama … are there any other questions?” Fields said. “I’m a Christian man, do I think women should go to the restroom with other women, yes I do. I don’t think a man belongs in there.”

Fields said the federal mandate has placed the city in a “predicament” it “should not have to be in.” The city of Flatwoods could face lawsuits similar to other cities and state entrenched in legal battles with the federal government.

Flatwoods is already in the midst of a potential lawsuit regarding bank payments and the city’s police fleet. In April, Tomblyn said the city was in a “financial crisis.”

On Saturday, five council members swiftly approved the new restroom ordinance. Tomblyn scoffed into the microphone after Sloan opted to refrain from casting a vote.

“I don’t know how we’re going to police it,” said the mayor. “I don’t like it … but the mayor stands on whatever the ordinance says.”

The restroom ordinance will take effect after its official publication.