It's Not That Hard

In response to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's recent call for the resignation of Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Kent Paredes Scribner over the issuance of district guidelines intended to support transgender students:  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/10/477481119/texas-lt-gov-targets-fort-worth-schools-chief-over-transgender-guidelines.  And also in response to North Carolina's rush passage of HB2, and anywhere else where a non-existent bathroom "issue" is being turned into a focal point by mostly Republicans and conservative Christians in what appears to be an effort to piggyback passage of anti-LGBT discrimination measures in the wake of the lost fight over same-sex marriage.

First let me say, I'm not a transgendered person, and I don't personally know and transgender people, so I can only image their struggles.

To those people trying to legislate which bathrooms a person can use based on their gender at birth in the alleged effort to protect wives, daughters, and children everywhere, I ask:  If your laws pass or were allowed to stay in effect, what reaction do you think your wives and daughters are going to have when they walk into the women's restroom and see these people?

Ben Melzer - born female
Photo from tetu.com

Ian Harvie - born female
Photo from zimbio.com

Kieran Moloney - born female
Photo from mulher.terra.com.br

Loren Rex Cameron - born female
Photo from america.pink.com

Ryan Sallans - born female
Photo from ryansallans.com

Thomas Beatie - born female
Photo from blogs.babycenter.com

Do you think they'll be ok to find a person that is clearly a man in the women's restroom?  One that just wants to use the facility for it's intended purpose, mind you.  Or do you think they'll be frightened and apprehensive, and maybe call the police?  If men find a person that is clearly a woman in the men's restroom, do you think that woman might be placed in a volatile and dangerous situation?

The (false) argument currently being presented is that by allowing transgender women (a person born male who is female) into the women's restroom, there's nothing to prevent a straight man with the intention of doing harm to vulnerable wives and daughters to dress up like a woman and enter the bathroom to assault a victim, or take video, or for some other nefarious purpose.

It's unlikely that there's a flood of Mrs. Doubtfire-level copycat perverts just rubbing their hands together eagerly waiting for a law to pass that allows them to legally enter the ladies room.  However if there were then theres no need to pass a law - it's a moot point because a criminal with an intent to do harm, be they man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, etc. could do that now without a law.

Instead of creating non-existent "issues" and trying to find ways to legally sanction discrimination, maybe if our elected officials could focus on more important matters like working together to actually run the country, congress would have a higher approval rating than the current 16-17%.

But back to my question above - Maybe the people in favor of of these laws can ensure when they pass that they include provisions for a way to put the vulnerable wives and daughters at ease when they enter the ladies room and see a man - how will they know if it's the kind of man being forced to use the wrong restroom, or one that's just wandered in to possibly do them harm?  Likewise, for the men finding a woman in the men's restroom - how will they know if it's a woman who maybe couldn't wait for the long lines to the other bathroom, or the kind of woman who it's ok to bully, disparage, and possibly brutalize because she's being forced to use the wrong restroom?

Maybe there's some sort of outwardly visible, government-mandated identification system they can be made to wear, like, oh, I don't know, yellow stars or pink triangles...