sue_me_pleasePortland bartender who shoved transgender woman in bathroom dispute guilty of hate crime, jury rules
I’m curious what the legality of this really is.
What rights do businesses have to dictate which restrooms their patrons use?
Probably none. The whole bathroom debate has been legally dubious from the outset.
That’s weird. They can refuse people using their bathrooms if they don’t pay, I figured denying them for other reasons was also on the table.
How could it be? Are they checking birth certificates?
I mean, they shouldn’t even have to check birth certificates.
What’s stopping a business from saying you can’t use their restrooms just because they feel like it?
In the general case, nothing. Not too long ago I was in a Ben & Jerry’s that had closed its bathroom down, for example.
The bartender in question here committed battery; that’s the underlying crime, not denying bathroom access. The hate crime rider on top is, by definition, an enhanced penalty for thinking illegal thoughts while committing some other crime.