As Florida lawmakers continue to consider a bill aiming to make it a criminal act for transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice, we’d like to direct your attention to Cindy Sullivan, who spoke out against the bill in incredibly brave and emotional testimony earlier this month.
“I see this bill as effecting not just my business but my partner’s business,” Sullivan said. “If I go to use the restroom, everybody in that restroom has the ability to sue me and my family, affect my child, affect my reputation. Everything could be taken away from me.”
“You could put me in jail for being me!”
As her tears well, Sullivan repeatedly looks behind her shoulder, as the bill’s sponsor, state representative Frank Artiles watches on.
House Bill 583 has already been approved by two subcommittees and is expected to be reviewed by the house judiciary committee later this week. In Kentucky and Texas, lawmakers are attempting to pass similar anti-transgender legislation. All three states have the support and financial backing of the Alliance Defending Freedom, an influential conservative group.
Sullivan, who began her testimony noting she too was a Republican, slammed the bill as “government intrusion at its worst.”
“I’m a throw-away piece of trash, in this country of freedom, and liberty, and respect.”