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In April 2016, the issue of transgender bathroom usage dominated news and social media, mostly due to the passage of HB2 in North Carolina and Target's policy allowing people to use bathrooms that best match their gender identity. Among those making headlines were lawmakers in the city of Oxford, Alabama. In late March 2016, lawmakers in North Carolina passed the sweeping HB2 (also known as the bathroom bill), which nullified a Charlotte ordinance affording protections to gay and transgender residents. The controversial legislation immediately became a matter of national discussion, and fallout extended well across the United States. On 19 April 2016, retailer Target responded to the law by instituting a policy allowing transgender employees and customers to use the restroom that best matched their gender identity, and a Kroger location in Georgia posted a sign to put transgender shoppers at ease. On 27 April 2016, the national debate took another turn when a city in Alabama responded to Target's policy: The Associated Press reported that Oxford's ordinance prohibits individuals from using bathrooms that do not correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificates. Those who violate that ordinance potentially face fines and jail time for the misdemeanor offense: The Anniston Star reported that the ordinance was passed on 26 April 2016, and its provisions apply within the city's jurisdiction. Oxford's council president said the measure was enacted in response to a large number of complaints about Target's policy: Waits spoke about the ordinance on 27 April 2016: In the 27 April 2016 video, Waits maintained that Oxford's new bathroom ordinance was passed not out of concerns for the 0.3 percent of the population who identify as transgender, but to protect women and children from predators and deviants. Critics of the law objected to the latter remarks, noting that sexual misconduct is already illegal (in bathrooms and elsewhere) under existing laws.
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