Monday, April 11, 2016

Privates

Elizabeth Edens wants to keep men out of women's restrooms. She is tired of being bullied by political correctness. Ms. Edens supports the new law of her land, North Carolina, that says that everyone has to use the bathroom designated by that person's birth certificate. By contrast, she believes that " the part that allows for LGBT people to be discriminated against in employment should be repealed." Jobs, no. Bathrooms, yes. She goes on: "That being said, the rest of it is on target. It needs to be a federal law so that I can feel safe in a bathroom anywhere in this once-great country of ours. I am a sixty-one-year-old white woman, married forty-two years to a straight man. That makes me a target. My right to privacy is being assaulted. My right to feel safe in public bathrooms is being denied. Where is the American Civil Liberties Union? Why is North Carolina being trashed for trying to protect me and my rights?"
A target for what, exactly?
She's probably worried about the number of attacks that have occurred in public restrooms being abused by lesbian, gay, bi and transgenders. Especially those sneaky TG folks. Except these attacks have been debunked by a great many law enforcement and government officials. There are attacks going on in bathrooms. And they do involve trans-folk. They are the victims in these attacks. Ms. Eden makes what can be perceived as a logical suggestion that those newly created "family" bathrooms could be re-designated as  "gender neutral." Only then will she feel comfortable going about her business in those public bathrooms where all manner of shady characters are lurking, preying on unsuspecting victims.
There are those Americans who are unwilling to stand, or in this case sit down, for this kind of discrimination. The problem is the fact that these incidents are not facts. They are tales spun over and over by those who are having a legitimate problem coming to grips with the issue of gender identity. The problem isn't public bathrooms, it's in our heads. We are all, straight bi gay andro non, coming to grips with the possibility that gender isn't created by a birth certificate. There are already laws on the books against assault, sexual and otherwise. Making laws about bathrooms seems like an unnecessary intrusion into our private lives. Ironic, since that is generally something that conservatives would rail against. I suppose we should all appreciate that Ms. Edens is willing to allow LGBT people access to employment, even if that job happens to be birth certificate bathroom checker

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