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WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins hosted a special program yesterday with Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest, and abuse survivor Kaeley Triller Haver. They talked about what states are doing to protect the safety and privacy of women and children, and how they plan to defend the freedom to believe.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest responded to critics noting that "Forbes just named us the number two place in the country, the number two state to do business in the country. We're at the top, number one, in CEO Magazine; Site Selection Magazine we're at the top of the list??? We've created hundreds of thousands of new jobs over the past couple of years. Businesses are still moving here; people are still moving here in record numbers??? The latest numbers that the Governor just threw out yesterday, related to the NCAA and all of these sporting events, they said that could cost the state of North Carolina 250 million dollars. That is less than one quarter of one percent of our annual GDP in our state. As I've said all along We don't put a price tag on the safety and security, and privacy of our women and children in North Carolina, especially for a sporting event."

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick went on to also debunked reports that passing common sense bills like the Texas Privacy Act would negatively affect the economy, "If you look at the states across the country, all the states that have policies protecting privacy and public safety in bathrooms are thriving and those in the opposite direction, their economies are suffering. That's the real data. And then again in Houston there's been no economic downturn at all that we can find. Not a business. Not a dollar??? Here is the real data point on economics. Houston had the Super Bowl. I don't know of one business that hasn't come to Houston since the voters stood up and said we don't want men in ladies' rooms." Lt. Gov. Patrick went on, "With our bill??? we're really focused on the women as we see them as being vulnerable, not on the transgender issue, as much as all the sexual predators who will exploit these rules to go into the ladies' room."

Kaeley Triller Haver, an abuse survivor and former employee at the YMCA, shared why she refused to go along with the YMCA's bathroom policy, "I am the survivor of childhood sexual abuse, much of which happened in showers. As a YMCA employee I was hyper vigilant??? I would regularly conduct sex offender screenings to make sure that people weren't accessing our locker rooms??? And as I would run these screenings??? I would find people in our data base, who were convicted sex offenders, who had gotten through somehow. I've sat there and I've watched the video surveillance footage trying to catch them after its been too late??? There is a real risk in opening up all of our locker rooms and our showers on the basis of gender identity??? It allows anybody to come in??? gender identity is synonymous with 'anything goes'."

After Kaeley shared the response she received after publishing her story as a rape survivor, "Every day, for I think probably six months, I started to hear from women across the country, on the left, on the right, everywhere, with similar stories saying, 'please keep fighting.'"
 
Tony Perkins added, "Target, who is the only corporation that I am aware of that has embraced this policy??? If you want to see a real version of CSI, just go into one of their changing rooms because it's been the site of crime scenes. We've had a number of cases of voyeurism, and other illegal acts taking place??? we're not talking about necessarily transgender people committing crimes. It is those taking advantage of these laws." concluded Perkins.

Click here to listen to the archived video