Anti-discrimination bills for transgender people advance

CARSON CITY -- Discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations or in the purchase or rental of housing is prohibited under bills passed on party-line votes Friday by a Senate panel.

Senate Commerce and Labor Committee members voted 4-3 for Senate Bill 331 that would make it unlawful for hotels and motels to discriminate on the basis of one's gender "identify and expression." That's defined as the "appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person's assigned sex at birth."

The committee also backed Senate Bill 368, which forbids discrimination through refusal to rent, lease or sell a home, apartment or property to a transgender person.

Both bills were sponsored by Sens. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, and Sheila Leslie, D-Reno.

All four Democrats -- Parks, Mike Schneider, Allison Copening and Shirley Breeden -- voted for the bill. Republicans James Settelmeyer, Elizabeth Halseth and Mike Roberson voted no.

None of the legislators made a statement before the votes, though Parks briefly mentioned that 18 states now outlaw discrimination in housing against transgender people.

The Nevada Resort Association backed the public accommodation measure.

Settelmeyer said after the meeting he opposed the bills because they were not written in a way to protect "true transgender people," while preventing others posing as transgendered from taking advantage of the law.

Settelmeyer, R-Minden, said the bill as written could become a problem for security guards in public places in determining whether people should or should not use the men's or women's bathrooms.

"I respect transgender people," he said. "But I am a dad and I have an obligation to my two little girls to protect them from having a guy walk into the bathroom (in public places)."

Both bills now move to the Senate floor, where Democrats hold an 11-10 edge. If approved, they go on to the Assembly for consideration.

The Assembly has yet to act on Democrat Paul Aizley's Assembly Bill 211, which would outlaw job discrimination against transgender people. The Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee, however, may vote on that bill Monday.