The battle over a transgender person's right to use the bathroom of their choice has made it to the Republican National Convention,
The Washington Times reports.
Jennifer Williams, an honorary delegate from New Jersey who is transgender, is using the women's restroom at the Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention is being held.
This was made possible by a Cleveland ordinance passed just days before the convention started, which forbids businesses from ordering transgender people to use a specific bathroom.
The issue gained prominence earlier this year after the Obama administration issued a
directive to schools nationwide that transgender students should be permitted to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
Republicans, however, have rejected the president's policy, insisting that people should only be allowed to use the bathroom of their biological sex.
The Republican National Convention Platform Committee continued its stance against transgender bathroom choice and also rejected an attempt to soften the party's position on same-sex marriage.
Bloomberg reported that at the GOP platform committee, Rachel Hoff, an openly gay delegate, presented an amendment that acknowledged "a diversity of opinion within our party" on same-sex marriage, but only some 20 of the 112 delegates supported it.
Williams said at the convention that the issue was very important to her and compared it to the civil right struggle, telling The Washington Times that the Republican Party is betraying its principles by opposing equal rights for the LGBT community.
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