NO ON I-1515: If someone tells you that I-1515 protects trans people, theyre lying.
NO ON I-1515: If a signature gatherer tells you that I-1515 protects trans people, they're lying. Washington Won't Discriminate

Last week, KIRO 7 interpreted Just Want Privacy chairman Joseph Backholm's comments instructing male I-1515 signature-gatherers to follow women into bathrooms as "jokes." (Really, KIRO? Really?) Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, however, doesn't consider those comments a laughing matter.

Ferguson released a statement yesterday warning I-1515 signature gatherers that harassing women in bathrooms to get their signatures is likely illegal:

I recently heard comments from Joseph Backholm, a chief supporter of Initiative 1515. Mr. Backholm encouraged male signature gatherers to loiter outside women’s restrooms and to follow women into the restroom if they refuse to sign I-1515 petitions. I find these comments deeply concerning, and I join King County Sheriff John Urquhart in urging signature gatherers not to follow this ridiculous direction.

This may have been inadvertent, but Ferguson's statement also tears apart Just Want Privacy's argument that human rights protections for trans people would make harassment or indecent exposure in gender-segregated bathrooms legal:
 

State law does not allow a man to follow a woman into a women’s bathroom to harass her for a petition signature. Entering spaces like bathrooms in order to make people feel trapped, threatened, or unsafe is inappropriate and likely a violation of our state criminal trespass or harassment laws. Particularly in light of the horrific violence targeting the LGBT and Latino communities in Orlando, Fla., I condemn statements urging purposeful efforts to make any community member feel threatened.
 
The Attorney General’s Office encourages anyone who is followed into a public restroom by a signature gatherer to contact their local law enforcement immediately.

I-1515 is desperate for signatures with just three weeks until their signature gathering deadline. This coming weekend, I-1515 signature gatherers will be at the Seattle Seafair Pirates Landing, the Greenwood Car Show, the Shoreline Arts Festival, the Urban Crafts Uprising, and the Bellevue Strawberry Festival.