Georgia's ACLU Head Resigns Over Transgender Bathrooms

ATLANTA, GA -- Citing no room to "engage in dialogue" on the topic, the head of Georgia's ACLU has resigned over the issue of transgender bathrooms.

Georgia's ACLU is challenging North Carolina's controversial law that restricts bathroom and locker room usage for transgender people. North Carolina and the Department of Justice have filed lawsuits against each other over the issue.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education have also sent letters to every public school district in the country, providing guidelines on how transgender students should be accommodated and threatening a loss of federal funds for schools that aren't in compliance.

Now, according to Atlanta Progressive News, Maya Dillard Smith stepped down this week as head of Georgia's ACLU chapter. The chapter is protesting North Carolina's law.

“I have shared my personal experience of having taken my elementary school age daughters into a women’s restroom when shortly after three transgender young adults over six feet with deep voices entered,” Dillard Smith said in a statement. “My children were visibly frightened, concerned about their safety and left asking lots of questions for which I, like many parents, was ill-prepared to answer.”

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Dillard Smith told WABE’s Martha Dalton that “it became clear that we were principally and philosophically different in opinion.”

Georgia has joined 10 other states across the U.S. in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration's guidelines. And Gov. Nathan Deal says his administration will "protect the interests of Georgia’s children" from the White House's directive that all public school systems provide transgender restrooms or face the loss of federal funding.

Dillard Smith has launched a new website dubbed “Finding Middle Ground” over the bathroom debate.

Image: Patch file photo

Read more of our coverage of one of the nation's hottest political topics:

• Georgia Joins 10 States in Lawsuit Over Federal Trans Bathroom Policies
• Gov. Deal: We Will Protect Children From Federal Overreach
• Transgender School Bathrooms: Battle Comes to Atlanta, Georgia