the associated press reports that “transgender rights laws spread, not always calmly”. they cover the colorado bill that recently sparked a “not my shower” movement among conservatives, and the now infamous montgomery county bill that protects trans peoples rights to use a public bathroom.
the “not my shower.net” people say:
“No longer will women and girls be able to feel completely safe,” the group says. “The outrageous legislation … may result in forcing even religious schools to hire transgender teachers — and then also allow cross-dressing but biological males in your daughter’s school locker room.”
ummm, since when have women and girls been able to feel completely safe, anywhere, with or without laws that allegedly “protect” them? and how is offering protection for trans people to pee in public accommodations going to circumvent this alleged protection? and where are the examples of cases in which trans protection laws have been passed, and women and girls been made more “unsafe”?
i have to wonder what kind of mishegoss would ensue if i attempted to use the mens room in any of these locations.
This whole issue speaks to the unreasonable fear that surrounds people who don’t really understand what transgender means. If you break it down logically, what they are in effect saying is that all men are potential child molesters, but a biological man who thinks he is a female is a guaranteed child molester!
I was also astonished at the fear in one conservative when asked about the fact that there has not been a single instance of a transgender attacking someone in a restroom. His response was, “it’s still early for transgender protection laws - we expect an upswing in those incidents soon.” WTF?!? I’m flabbergasted that people can say such things with a straight face, that even though there is no evidence of a certain behavior ever happening, that blind fear that it WILL happen is reason enough to support stripping rights from people, rights that are freely given to almost every other person on the planet.
Comment by Michelle — June 13, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
i suppose many of the people who would see us as molesters are taught to take those beliefs on faith.
Comment by nexy — June 14, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
Do they really believe it or is it just their excuse?
Like the whole ‘gay marriage will destroy marriage’ nonsense. How? They can’t say. Doesn’t interfaith and athiests marriages destroy it’s ’sanctity’ already? They can’t answer. What about those places where gays already marry and straight peoples marriages survive? Again their discomforting silence is palpable. In that case they really just want to stop it and ‘don’t give gay people equal rights’ just sounds bad.
Though the binary thinking many use may explain the problem. Everything is ‘us’ and ‘them’. So if it’s not straight vanilla w.a.s.p sex it must all be part of the same ‘bad’ ‘evil’ ‘other’.
Their arguments are heavy on the rhetoric, light on reason and always looking for alarmist push-button ways to get reflexive unthinking responses from people who go on to maintain that unconcious association as matter-of-course.
For people used to that sort of emotive thinking fine reasoned arguments often fail to reach them, they run everything through their emotional filters first and such reasoned arguments fail.
So something that talks their language, to their experience and worldview would I think work well and open their minds.
Zoe Brain has a great post on the subject that I think does just that: http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2008/06/citizens-for-irresponsible-government.html
Comment by Battybattybats — June 16, 2008 @ 12:34 am