GILLETTE — A policy to enforce distinctions between sexes when it comes to locker rooms in the Campbell County Recreation Center is up for Campbell County residents to weigh in on.
On Wednesday, the Campbell County Parks and Recreation Board put the policy out for 45 days of public comment.
With help from the Campbell County Attorney’s Office and the county’s human resources department, the board has proposed a policy that will “recognize and enforce distinctions between the sexes” in restrooms and other areas where privacy and safety are concerned.
The policy defines a person’s sex as their biological sex at birth, and it also includes definitions for male and female.
It designates the women’s locker rooms for “exclusive use” by a person “whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova and/or who exhibits XX chromosomes and does not exhibit a Y chromosome.”
And men’s locker rooms would be exclusively used by people “whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female and/or who exhibits XY chromosomes or who exhibits a Y chromosome.”
The policy states that these separate accommodations are “substantially related to the important governmental objectives of protecting the health, safety and privacy” of people.
A person who is unwilling or unable to use the locker room designated for their sex at birth will be provided access to the universal changing area, which includes single-occupancy restrooms.
The universal changing area, also known as the family locker rooms, has private changing stalls as well as private rooms with showers, toilets and doors that lock.
The policy also includes exceptions for emergency medical situations, ongoing natural disasters and people performing custodial or maintenance work.
This policy stems from a situation in early February where an adult reported seeing a transgender person in the women’s locker room.
“The staff met with them, told them we had a family locker room that was available if they were more comfortable using it, and they indicated they were not,” said Dwayne Dillinger, executive director of Parks and Recreation.
Because there was no policy in place, the staff was unsure how to handle the situation.
Wednesday night, after coming out of an executive session that lasted more than an hour, the board voted to put the policy out for 45 days of public comment.
Andy Fitzgerald, the chair of the board, said the intent is to come up with a policy “that really is reflective of the overall composition of our community and keeping up with the law and the state of the times.”
“We want to be inclusive to our public and the patrons we serve here,” he said. “Our goal in all of this is to serve Campbell County by having a place where everybody feels comfortable.”
A copy of the full policy is available for review at the front desk of the Rec Center, and it also will be online on the Rec Center’s website and Facebook page.
People can submit written comments at the Rec Center, and Dillinger said work is being done to provide an online option. The board’s next meeting is at 5 p.m. March 25 in the Rec Center, and there will be a time set aside for public comment.
Dillinger will meet with his employees to give them a chance to weigh in on the policy, since they are the ones who’ll have to enforce it.
“As staff goes through it we’ll have to take each section and figure out how to administer that part of the policy, and that might lead to some tweaks or changes,” he said.
This story was published on March 8, 2024.
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