Hartford — The Democrat-controlled state House passed an anti-discrimination bill late Thursday night that supporters said would protect transgender people from discrimination but which some lawmakers feared could encourage cross-dressing teachers and Peeping Toms.

The measure, which passed on a 77-62 vote with all Republican opposition, would add "gender identity or expression" to the list of attributes protected under state law in matters of employment, housing, public accommodations and school settings. It would also allow individuals who view themselves as a different gender than their biological sex to use the restroom and locker room facilities of the gender with which they identify.

The bill now goes to the state Senate. Proponents said it would make life easier for transgender people, who regularly face discrimination. At least 13 states have approved similar legislation.

"It is important for those individuals who are in this situation," said state Rep. Gerald Fox, D-Stamford, who is the House chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Yet critics were more outspoken Thursday night during the five hours of deliberations.

State Rep. Steve Mikutel, D-Griswold, voiced concern about the societal impact, particularly on children. He was disappointed to hear that the bill might protect a cross-dressing teacher who opts to switch his or her gender on a weekly basis.

"How does a young child deal with this situation where one day their teacher is dressed like a man and the next week he's dressed like a woman," Mikutel said. "I imagine that situation can happen."

State Rep. John Hetherington, R-New Canaan, criticized what he considered the spirit of the anti-discrimination bill: "I feel therefore I am."

"What we are doing is creating a class of persons who are able to define themselves," he said.

The bill sets a penalty for discrimination against transgender people of up to a year imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,000.

State Rep. Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, said his opposition was founded in common sense, "not based on cruelty or meanness." He described a scenario in which a man who looks like a man but identifies as a woman creates a public disturbance at a restaurant by using the women's restroom.

"That might be offensive, shocking, disturbing to other people," Cafero said. "So maybe the proprietor of the restaurant says, 'Hey, excuse me, I can't have you use the restroom. Would you mind using the other one?' And now [the man] can say, 'You're violating my rights. Today I feel like a woman. I'm going into that bathroom. And if you don't let me, I'm going to sue you.'"

State Rep. T.R. Rowe, R-Trumbull, introduced an amendment that would have maintained segregation of the biological sexes in restrooms, locker rooms and for sleeping accommodations. The amendment failed 67-62.

Without such an amendment, Rowe said he feared the bill would protect and embolden perverts and Peeping Toms. He presented the situation of boys on a soccer team "availing themselves to the girls' locker room."

State Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, described another bathroom scenario, this one involving his 6-year-old daughter. "Male genitalia," he said, "If we pass this bill today, that's what my daughter will be exposed to when we go out to a restaurant and she needs to use the bathroom, and I can't go in there with her."

And state Rep. Chris Coutu, R-Norwich, worried about options for protecting his young daughter if she were to be targeted while using a women's restroom. "What would happen if a pedophile or a predator … goes in that bathroom — could be dressed up, could not be — and just ran in real quick and does something to my daughter?" Coutu said.

The legislation received a spiritual defense by Kim Fawcett, D-Fairfield, a devout Christian would said she believes the bill would pass the "What Would Jesus Do?" test.

"The question I would ask myself tonight and maybe you is 'Would my God discriminate against any person because of gender identity?'" Fawcett said.

The bill generated substantial interest during its March public hearing before the Judiciary Committee.

Jerimarie Liesegang, founder of the CT TransAdvocacy Coalition, told of discrimination she has suffered as a transexual woman.

Her group receives numerous calls from transgender individuals who have lost jobs or been unable to secure work because they are transgender, Liesegang said in written testimony.

Liesegang said she was forced to shutter her own business several years ago because she lost contacts after her transition to a woman. She also lost custody of her children in a divorce.

"I lost so very much in my life simply because I am a transsexual," Liesegang said, "yet I also learned about true friends and people who did not judge me simply upon a stereotype or vicious statements by bigots, but rather took the time to see that I am an intelligent and warm human being."

Andrew McDonald, general counsel for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, described in written testimony the story of a hardworking Stamford attorney who transitioned from a man to a woman.

"Suffice it to say she remains a very valuable asset to the city of Stamford as an attorney, and she remains a personal friend of both the governor and mine," he said.

j.reindl@theday.com