Montana court asked to rule against anti-transgender petition

Helena, Mont. (AP) — A civil-rights organization is asking the Montana Supreme Court to rule that a proposed measure to prevent transgender people from using the public bathrooms of the gender they identify with can't appear on 2018 election ballots.

The ACLU of Montana says in its petition filed Monday that the measure's wording masks the true intent of the initiative and that framing it as a privacy issue is misleading and prejudicial to voters.

The measure would ask voters to decide whether people should use public restrooms and locker rooms designated for the gender listed on their birth certificates.

The Montana Secretary of State's Office and Department of Justice have cleared the proposal's sponsor to begin collecting signatures for the 2018 general election. The conservative Montana Family Foundation must gather more than 25,000 signatures to qualify.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Gayly – July 31, 2017 @ 1:25 p.m. CDT.