Transgender Bathroom Bill Supporters, Foes Pack Hearing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Some Minnesota parents say allowing transgender people to use bathrooms of the gender they identify with is ripe for abuse by people with bad intentions. A transgender woman says she's not a sexual predator - she's just trying to use the bathroom.

Those two viewpoints shaped a heated debate at Minnesota's Legislature Tuesday over a bill restricting transgender residents' bathroom use to their birth sex. Republican Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen's bill would also apply to locker rooms and changing facilities.

It won't come to a vote this year and it stands little chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Minnesota is just the latest state where the issue has cropped up as November's election approaches. North Carolina recently passed a similar measure, while South Dakota's Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill.