Texas Republicans Take First Step Toward Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill
By: Roque Planas @ Huffpost
http://bit.ly/2mkJm0g
"While the media makes it so much about transgender, this is a bill that says men should not go into a women's restroom," Kolkhorst said.
"I'm against the concept of ->-bleeped-<- being imposed on millions of Texas students," another supporter said.
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So, which is it! o.O
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So, I always see this line that the bill would "force people to use only the public restroom designated for the sex listed on their birth certificate". I never hear how this is carried out. I mean, who the F carries their BC?? Who is checking for them? If I get checked, does everyone else? Who is the arbiter of who gets checked? Are all citizens now required to carry their BC? If not, then are we just to provide it at a later time after being asked for it? And in the mean time, can we still use the restroom we want until we get home to get it? I mean, really. Where are the specifics?
Those kinds of bills are meant to scare people into compliance, and I don't mean just bathroom bills, I mean bills written in this fashion on any topic. I heartily dislike them and always have. Unenforceable laws erode the rule of law.
Quote from: Deborah on March 08, 2017, 03:39:15 AM
this is a bill that says men should not go into a women's restroom
Does the bill have any language that directly singles out trans men? Or is it just specific to the women?
It seems to me that it is the women who get most of the attention in this debate from the transphobe side.
The argument I hear MOST often from commentators is that they don't want grown men using little girl's bathrooms. Which begs the question. What exactly is a "little girl's bathroom?" I have yet to find a public facility labeled as such.
Conversely, I don't think I've ever heard commentators saying, "We don't want grown women going in little boys bathrooms."
Really, it should just say "Texans Take First Step Toward Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill". This is a Texas problem, not a Republican problem. My state has a Republican governer, and he signed a transgender bill of rights last summer. Texas problem.
Hugs, Devlyn
These laws are enforceable, just not consistently enforceable. For the average "anonymous" transgender person out and about in public life, the use of their correct restroom will rarely be challenged. Other people are not usually paying that much attention and there is often enough uncertainty that if some one is suspicious, they simply walk away fearing they may be mistaken.
However, there are transgender persons who must use restrooms in situations where others know the person's circumstances. There is where some one can and often does take it upon themselves to enforce the law by putting up some kind of a stink. Cases like the transgender girl in a school that where her prior status is well known. Or a government worker that has come out and the coworkers know his or her prior history. These situations are the ones that can cause some of us such grief.
I live in NC. Right after the passage of HB2, my wife was concerned and while traveling within the state, I did an androgynous look and used the men's room. After the initial shock wore off, I went back to my full feminine presentation and freely use the women's room. For me, as an anonymous person, that works just fine. It may not work so well if I was a college student and had to use the rest room day after day in the same time slot around the same people since some one could very well catch on and take offence. In such an event, I would not have a leg to stand on.
Stephanie
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on March 08, 2017, 10:33:37 AM
...This is a Texas problem, not a Republican problem. ...
Truth.
I have my documents changed, including my BC, and have all girl parts, but I still do not think if my state passed something like this I would go unchallenged indefinitely. I mean, I get clocked sometimes. W/e. But, I do not think ANYONE should be challenged for their BC. Period. If they challenged my cis wife, she would come unglued. Why shouldn't we? Pre or post GRS...
Quote from: ainsley on March 08, 2017, 10:50:28 AM
Truth.
I have my documents changed, including my BC, and have all girl parts, but I still do not think if my state passed something like this I would go unchallenged indefinitely. I mean, I get clocked sometimes. W/e. But, I do not think ANYONE should be challenged for their BC. Period. If they challenged my cis wife, she would come unglued. Why shouldn't we? Pre or post GRS...
I remember once years ago, a dog ran up to me on the street, rabidly barking in a menacing way looking for all the world as though it was going to rip my face off. It got about 10 feet from me and I waved my arms and I instinctively barked back at it. It stopped dead in its track and eventually turned and left.
I definitely think that if you're accosted in the Womens room by some self appointed gestapo, that being proactively indignanant as opposed to apologetic is your best tact. A get out of my face policy is probably more effective than begging off. We must begin to get over our own transphobia and begin to stand up for our rights. I don't think that pacifism is always your best tact. This problem with bathrooms is spreading, not abating. We may at this point need some martyrs that are willing to force the courts to look at this nonsense. Real life situations may force reality to rear its head.
The reasonable world and the business world understand the hypocrisy and human rights violations of these sort of things. It is a "safety" solution for a problem that does not exist and essentially a strike back at LGTBQI rights because you know if we have equal rights, their lives will suffer. ::)
We all should be activists though and speak up for our rights and those of others. When the momentum is seen and the futility of these actions is seen, they will move on to some other token "problem" to address.
Jen, I think the issue is shrinking, not growing. The CNN story lists 19 states with public accommodations statutes protecting transgender people. We just need to get the other 31 caught up to date.
Hugs, Devlyn
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on March 08, 2017, 12:24:02 PM
Jen, I think the issue is shrinking, not growing. The CNN story lists 19 states with public accommodations statutes protecting transgender people. We just need to get the other 31 caught up to date.
Hugs, Devlyn
Well....hard to argue with that kind of positivity! We'll all get there..... sooner the better though. L.O.L.
There's no doubt we will in the end win. The question is how much pain will be involved until that time.
It's nice 38% of the states provide protections now. It's not so nice that 62% of the states provide no protections and that many of them, not just Texas, are continuing to try and further restrict civil rights. It's especially not so nice if one is a member of the majority that live in those 62% of the states.
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Deborah, don't you expect all of these things to go the way of Indiana and North Carolina? Meaning that within days of any legislation being voted into law, the pushback from the sports leagues, colleges, business and the 38% of reasonable people forces a scramble to reverse course? Because that's what I predict.
Hugs, Devlyn
The North Carolina law is still there.
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Furthermore:
Trump quietly shelves government opposition to North Carolina's anti-LGBT law
6 March 17
http://bit.ly/2mn9UhP
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Quote from: Deborah on March 08, 2017, 05:17:19 PM
The North Carolina law is still there.
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
The guy who put it in isn't. :) What I said is still true, there is a scramble to undo the (extensive) damage.
Hugs, Devlyn
The cup isn't half empty. It's 38% full.
And the powers that be in Magnolia, Mississippi just passed an LGBT protection ordinance - the second city in Mississippi to do so. There is evidence that the trend line is progressive, in spite of this business in Texas. Keep the faith.
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on March 08, 2017, 05:20:08 PM
The guy who put it in isn't. :) What I said is still true, there is a scramble to undo the (extensive) damage.
Afaics the scrambling ended in December and the only doing is the NC governor (dem) isn't going to enforce the bill. But the Republican controlled state Congress didn't live up to a deal to repeal. Further, the Obama JD had filed suit and was going to withhold funding based on title IX, it seems unlikely that the trump administration will follow through.
Dec 21 NBC article
QuoteNorth Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday failed to reach a deal to repeal a divisive and costly law restricting protections for transgender people, ending a daylong special session without coming to agreement on anything.
After the North Carolina House adjourned without making a decision, the state's Senate voted down the motion to repeal the controversial so-called "bathroom bill."
That means no end in sight for a crisis that has already helped oust the sitting governor and triggered a boycott of the state by businesses, performers and sports leagues that has cost North Carolina tens of millions of dollars.
They're bleeding cash. I don't expect the government to fix this. I expect the people to fix this, and they will. I have faith in that.
Hugs, Devlyn
The people retained the same legislature in November that passed the bill earlier.
We know why - extensive gerrymandering. But that exceeds the boundaries of discussion here.
Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Quote from: Deborah on March 09, 2017, 06:06:39 AM
The people retained the same legislature in November that passed the bill earlier.
We know why - extensive gerrymandering. But that exceeds the boundaries of discussion here.
Plus liberals tend to concentrate themselves in big cities, packing their influence into fewer districts.
The people can fix this through corporate pressure, but only if too many bills don't hit at the same time. One or two states can suffer a corporate boycott, ten states at once? That's much, much harder.
Part of this conversation has been broken off for a separate discussion and can be found in its entirety here. (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,221058.msg1957304.html#msg1957304)
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Hugs, Devlyn
Hugs, Devlyn