WA 'Bathroom Bill' Group Apologizes For Using Seattle Woman's Attack Story

SEATTLE, WA — A group that wants a "bathroom bill" in Washington state has apologized for using the story of a woman attacked at a park bathroom to raise political awareness.

Kelly Herron was attacked inside the women's bathroom at Seattle's Golden Gardens Park on March 5 by a registered sex offender. Herron fought the attacker off and locked him in a bathroom until police arrived and arrested him.

Just Want Privacy — the group behind the ballot initiative I-1552, which would repeal an anti-discrimination rule — posted Herron's story on its Facebook page, writing, “We cannot be naïve and [normalize] the presence of males in females’ vulnerable spaces #YesOn1552.” The post has since been deleted.

Herron was outraged and released a statement, according to The Stranger:

I’m more upset now than I have been all week after seeing that a political group is using my face, my name and my story to fundraise for I-1552, a ballot initiative that deliberately targets and harms transgender people - including friends whom I respect.
To the people behind I-1552, I say “not today, mutherf*ckers.” I refuse to allow anyone to use me and my horrific sexual assault to cause harm and discrimination to others.
All of us, including transgender people, are concerned about safety in restrooms or any place where we’re isolated and alone. But the fact is I-1552 would not have done one thing to prevent the attack on me. It’s already illegal to enter a restroom or locker room to harm someone, period.

After her attack, Herron said that her initial thought during the attack was, "Not today, M**F**er!" Her story quickly went viral.

Just Want Privacy released a statement on Facebook, apparently after hearing news reports of Herron's outrage:

Last week a Seattle woman was attacked in a bathroom at Golden Gardens by a level III sex offender

Because our campaign exists to help create safe spaces, we referenced her story—as we have many others before her—to highlight the need for common sense public policy to minimize danger to women and children from those who seek to harm others.

We have recently learned through several media outlets that the woman objected to our reference to her story in our communications.

Since many of the volunteers that comprise this campaign are themselves survivors of sexual assault, the last thing we want to do is make anyone feel exploited.

If our actions have inadvertently failed in this effort, we are sincerely sorry.

Our campaign would welcome the opportunity to apologize to her in person if she would like to reach out to us or provide a way for us to reach her.

The Lynnwood-based I-1552 campaign failed to get on the state ballot last year but relaunched the campaign in January. The group needs to gather about 260,000 signatures to get on the ballot before July 7, according to the Washington Secretary of State's office. The initiative is being opposed by a group called Washington Won't Discriminate.

Just Want Privacy has raised about $344,000 — including $50,000 from former Mariners first baseman John Olerud and his wife — compared to Washington Won't Discriminate's $217,000, which has received support from Microsoft and prominent labor unions.

So-called "bathroom bills" restrict bathroom use along gender lines; for example, a bathroom bill in North Carolina passed last year requires that people use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender listed on their birth certificate. Without these laws, proponents say, women and children are at risk in public restrooms. In effect, these laws discriminate against transgender people; a transgender woman who identifies as female would have to use a men's restroom, for example.

From Arizona to South Carolina, at least 16 U.S. states have attempted to pass some form of bathroom-bill legislation. On Wednesday, the Texas state Senate passed a bill requiring people to use restrooms that conform to the gender listed on their birth certificates.

In 2015, the Washington State's Human Rights Commission created a rule allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms that conform with their current gender identity. If successful, I-1552 would repeal that rule, and that school restrooms "must be designated for use by only or for use by males only.

Image via Elaine Thompson/Associated Press