Virginia company advertising agency says it will stop working with ‘VIP’ over ‘Bathroom Bill’

Virginia’s top lobbying group for the tobacco industry announced Monday it will no longer work with “VIP” tobacco company “Bathrooms Bill,” a legislation that would require transgender people to use the restroom that corresponds with their biological sex.

The Virginia Public Policy & Research Center, which represents tobacco companies, said the legislation is harmful to transgender people, adding that it will cease working with the Virginia-based lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council, and other companies that have previously worked with it.

The legislation was introduced by Republican state Rep. Richard Black, a Republican from Loudoun County.

It would require state agencies to consider whether public schools are safe for transgender students.

The bill was supported by the American Cancer Society, which said it has supported legislation that includes the requirement for schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

But Black said the measure doesn’t go far enough.

Black said he plans to introduce legislation in the next few weeks that would allow transgender people who identify as the opposite sex to use restrooms and locker room facilities that correspond to their gender.

Black said he hopes the legislation would allow people to be protected from discrimination based on their gender at schools.