I was amusing myself yesterday responding to fb posts

[mnhtnbb]

Last edited Wed Mar 30, 2016, 10:41 AM - Edit history (1)

on various articles from groups reporting on HB 2--dubbed the bathroom bill in North Carolina that was rammed through in one day in a special
session of the Legislature last week and signed that night by the governor-- and the huge amount of opposition to it
that is coming from all sides: corporations, universities, civil rights organizations, cities (and the State of NY),
Chambers of Commerce...on and on.

The Republican politicians really did wave the false flag of pedophiles and sexual predators gaining unlimited
access to bathrooms and locker rooms to prey on little girls if they didn't overturn the ordinance
that was passed in Charlotte. Like a good illusionist who has everyone focused on the one hand he's
holding over fire, the other hand was busy withdrawing civil rights and legal protections.

I made the argument over and over again to people who were obsessed with the bathroom aspect
of the bill. They were all about defending women and children. They had no response when I pointed
out to them that pedophiles don't operate that way--that children who are sexually abused very
often know their abuser. They are priests, teachers, coaches, neighbors, and most frequently
fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and brothers who abuse little girls in their own homes. Josh Duggar
only had to go down the hall to his sister's bedroom.

People don't think for themselves. Right wing media--and a lot of right wing churches--put out a distorted
message and people just accept it without any critical thinking. Trans women are not a threat to
other women and girls' in bathrooms: it's the heterosexual males who have never needed the ruse
of a wig and a dress to abuse, rape, or batter women who are the real threat. The other thing that
was also quite apparent is that many of these fearful people have little to no understanding at all
of what kind of process transgendered people go through as they move towards matching their
outward appearance to their gender identity. It's ludicrous to think some guy is going to put
on a dress and wig to peep at women/kids and then get away with it by claiming he's trans. Just
ludicrous.

But these people are so afraid of something they don't know and don't understand and have been told
over and over again by their right wing churches is 'wrong' and 'sinful', that they can't or won't question
the propaganda they're fed.

I do think that McCrory is a goner, though. He's just handed Roy Cooper the keys to the Governor's mansion,
because the business community isn't going to support McCrory after this.

[forgotmylogin]

1. I find it odd

...that they think there is a huge number of cis predators that would masquerade as transgender to gain access to an opposite gender restroom. It seems like it would be an awful lot of work and easily discovered and reported.

Predators can probably sneak into a restroom and hide without these laws In place. Transgender persons are the least of their worries if that many lurking predators are brave enough to risk entering the wrong restroom to get their jollies.

[mnhtnbb]

2. I agree. I think the real perverts are the Republicans--primarily male--

sitting around thinking up ways to frighten women and children into believing the sexual predator boogeyman
is coming after them in the bathroom/locker room if trans women are allowed to use the facilities
matching their gender identity. They have really been obsessed with citing bathroom access to
instill fear.

It wasn't so long ago they did the same thing to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, in the 70's.

Those opposed to the ERA even suggested that single-sex restrooms would be banished by future courts.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/57c.asp

[-none]

4. I think it is projection on the Republicans part.

They think everyone else's thought process is similar to their own. So they pass laws against their own perversions to try to keep themselves in line.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Precisely.

[marions ghost]

3. "HB2 is a Plague Infested Rat"

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/44497/a-lawyers-perspective-on-why-hb2-is-a-plague-infested-rat/

"HB2 is catastrophic for all North Carolinians, not only those discriminated against by their employers. For a state that loves to talk about growth, North Carolina is doing all that it can to turn off the very people it is, or at least should be, trying to attract. Forward-thinking, talented people won’t want to live in a state that blatantly encourages LGBT discrimination and now effectively sanctions basic forms of workplace discrimination. And the business community isn’t exactly thrilled, either — companies like Google, PayPal, American Airlines, Red Hat, Biogen, Dow Chemical, and others have already come out against HB2. The NCAA is “monitoring the situation.” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver should be strongly reconsidering his decision that Charlotte host next season’s NBA All-Star Weekend. I would be shocked if these conversations aren’t happening right now.

But the way in which this change came about might be even worse. The General Assembly didn’t hold a special session for the first time in 35 years to respond to Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance —it used it as a diversion to roll back back rights for North Carolina employees. When lawmakers framed the debate as one about “bathrooms” they had already won. Calling House Bill 2 a Trojan horse is misleading. Trojan horses are far less deceptive. It’s more like a plague infested rat scurrying into a sleepy Medieval European town. The rats were pests, to be sure. But the hidden disease was far more destructive. The General Assembly and our Governor passed a rat of a Bill that, itself, is quite disgusting. Unfortunately for North Carolinians, that rat carried something even more sinister."