HANCEVILLE – A regular Hanceville City Council meeting was held last night, and the hot button issue of transgender restroom legislation was discussed. The City will be considering an ordinance similar to the one passed in Oxford, Alabama soon.
The Oxford City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance making it illegal to use a public bathroom which does not match the gender on a person's birth certificate. The ordinance also affects changing rooms and applies within the city limits and its police jurisdiction. Last night, the Hanceville City Council said it would be considering a similar ordinance in the very near future.
“I never thought 30 years ago we would have to tell folks what bathroom to go into,” said Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail. “I think this is something we need to look at, we need to study it and we need to figure out.”
Nail said that right now he doesn’t think there is any legal recourse if a man is in a women’s restroom.
“We need something in place because I don’t know right now if (Hanceville Police Chief) Bob Long got the call that there is a man in the women’s bathroom, for whatever reason, legally, I’m not sure we can do anything about it.”
The City of Oxford passed its ordinance in response to Target’s policy allowing employees and shoppers to use bathrooms and changing rooms that match their gender identity.
“The policy creates an unsafe environment,” said Steven Waits, Oxford City Council president.
“It’s being put in to protect women, children and families from voyeurs, child molesters, exhibitionists, sexual predators and others who might use these policies to their advantage,” said Waits.
When asked if the law then associates transgender people with sexual predators, Waits replied “that’s not the spirit of this law.”
The ordinance carries penalties of a $500 fine or six months in jail, according to Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge.
Enforcement of the misdemeanor will be the same as other misdemeanor city laws. A person would have to call police to complain, when police arrive the officer would have to witness the crime. After that, a person’s information is gathered and the person who called in the complaint would have to sign out a warrant, according to Partridge.
In new business, the Hanceville City Council discussed Forest Drive. Bids will be taken for the leveling and paving of the road.
The upcoming 2016 Fish-o-Rama will be held over the next two weekends. The Kids’ Fish-o-Rama will be Saturday, April 30 and the Senior Citizen’s Fish-o-Rama the following Friday, May 6. Both will be at Hanceville’s Veterans Memorial Park.
Ladies’ firearm training will be held on May 14, 21 and possibly even May 28. The class has a capacity of 30 students, and 25 are already signed up.
Hanceville Fire Chief Roger Green said, “So far this month there have been a total of 52 calls; 37 medical calls, 10 direct calls, 1 threat fire and 4 lift assist calls.”
Next Tuesday starting at 4 p.m. there will be a hazardous materials awareness and operations class for the firefighters, police officers and anyone who would like to attend.
The next city council meeting is May 12 at 7 p.m. The next downtown (Main Street/ Historic Downtown Hanceville Revitalization) meeting is on May 10 at 6 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public.
WBRC contributed to this story.
