Marco Rubio: 'Women's Bathrooms Are for Women'
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said men's bathrooms are for men and women's bathrooms are for women just as "we've been doing it this way forever," responding to a question whether biological males should be allowed to use women's room based on their gender identity.
"Do you believe biological males should be permitted to use the women's room in federal facilities and parks around the country?" a journalist from CNSNews.com asked Sen. Rubio Tuesday.
"No," replied the senator, who withdrew from the presidential race last month. "I think men's bathrooms are for men and women's bathrooms are for women."
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A North Carolina law says people must use bathrooms according to their biological sex, which has led to boycotts from businesses and celebrities, who claim the law discriminates against transgenders.
"I don't know what the problem we're trying to solve here is," Rubio added. "I mean, we've been doing it this way forever. I don't know, I just don't see this crisis that all of a sudden they're scrambling to create all these solutions for."
Whether people should use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex or gender identity has become a major debate in the country.
The U.K. recently issued a travel advisory, saying, "The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country. LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi."
At a recent joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, President Barack Obama was asked about the North Carolina law, and he responded by saying it is "wrong" and should be "overturned."
"The laws that have been passed there (in North Carolina and Mississippi) are wrong and should be overturned, and they're in response to politics in part, in part some strong emotions that are generated by people — some of whom are good people, but I just disagree with them when it comes to respecting the equal rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation, whether transgender or gay or lesbian," Obama said.
However, evangelist Franklin Graham recently slammed rock singer Bruce Springsteen's decision to cancel a planned concert in North Carolina over the bathroom law.
"Bruce Springsteen, a long-time gay rights activist, has cancelled his North Carolina concert. He says the N.C. law #HB2 to prevent men from being able to use women's restrooms and locker rooms is going 'backwards instead of forwards.' Well, to be honest, we need to go back! Back to God. Back to respecting and honoring His commands. Back to common sense," Graham wrote on his Facebook page. "Mr. Springsteen, a nation embracing sin and bowing at the feet of godless secularism and political correctness is not progress."
