Last night, the city of Charlotte, NC failed to pass a non-discrimination ordinance. Unfortunately, had the ordinance passed, it would included exemptions for bathrooms and changing rooms, thereby sending a supremely negative message to our transgender brothers and sisters.
Rather than ruminate over how SOME folks (particularly anti-gay activist Flip Benham) choose to wear a cape and a giant "F" on their chests (I say for "fools" but you can feel free to pick out another word beginning with the letter "f"), I think it would be better to use this morning's post to push some intense education on this nonsense about the transgender community and bathrooms.
Transgender-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances will NOT lead to predators coming into women's restrooms and bathrooms. In fact, that has never been a problem with other areas which do have transgender-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances.
But you do not have to take my word for it. The following graphic is courtesy of Media Matters:
What happened in Charlotte, unfortunately, has happened before and in other times and other groups of people.
Anita Bryant perpetuated the myth for political purposes that gay men want to "recruit" children. That lie continues to haunt the lgbt community
Racists opposed integration because they said it would lead to black men raping white women
Even now, some folks oppose immigration, claiming that immigrants bring diseases, crime, and in return take jobs away from native-born Americans.
It's sad when some folks appeal to unproven fears to get their points across. And when these folks commit these awful acts in the name of God, it's even worse.
Related post:
15 Experts Debunk Right-Wing Transgender Bathroom Myth
Rather than ruminate over how SOME folks (particularly anti-gay activist Flip Benham) choose to wear a cape and a giant "F" on their chests (I say for "fools" but you can feel free to pick out another word beginning with the letter "f"), I think it would be better to use this morning's post to push some intense education on this nonsense about the transgender community and bathrooms.
Transgender-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances will NOT lead to predators coming into women's restrooms and bathrooms. In fact, that has never been a problem with other areas which do have transgender-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances.
But you do not have to take my word for it. The following graphic is courtesy of Media Matters:
What happened in Charlotte, unfortunately, has happened before and in other times and other groups of people.
Anita Bryant perpetuated the myth for political purposes that gay men want to "recruit" children. That lie continues to haunt the lgbt community
Racists opposed integration because they said it would lead to black men raping white women
Even now, some folks oppose immigration, claiming that immigrants bring diseases, crime, and in return take jobs away from native-born Americans.
It's sad when some folks appeal to unproven fears to get their points across. And when these folks commit these awful acts in the name of God, it's even worse.
Related post:
15 Experts Debunk Right-Wing Transgender Bathroom Myth
2 comments:
I always challenge people to google, "transgender attacks woman in bathroom." If tell them that if they can find one case of a transgender person actually assaulting anyone in a bathroom I will never argue for it again. The list is nearly always cases of transgender people being attacked in bathrooms.
The logic of banning trans people from the right bathroom never worked for me- any man that would be such an asshole as to do this wouldn't be stopped by "you can't use this bathroom" anyways. Even if such men were as common as the right wingers think they are, I haven't seen anything approaching a rational explanation of how this would actually stop those men. And the lack of an extensive list of incidents seems to be an indication that these men, if they exist at all, are extremely rare.
And now that the data is in from several states, it's not just a logic fail but an outright denial of reality.
Post a Comment