Although Gov. Pat McCrory and a top General Assembly leader of North Carolina assure us that their state’s new law on LGBT rights and transgender bathroom rules won’t be repealed during this year’s legislative session, still plenty of people are worrying. The wish to repeal current protective LGBT rights laws stems from transgender folk using a bathroom they are not supposed to use. ‘Supposed to’ of course the key here, as the law everyone is fighting over (those so called ‘bathroom laws’) demands that a person need use the bathroom of the gender their birth certificate claims them to be; a conundrum and restriction of course for transgender folk.
The fuel behind all this is as much past criminal activity occurring in public bathrooms and dressing room spaces, with men dressing as women, as it seems to be a clear fear over the seemingly sudden growth in frequency of trans folk in the general population. Or the general public’s now clear knowledge that there are indeed trans folk in the general population.
But the simple truth is:
1.) Those crimes of public indecency and “groping” in bathrooms and dressing rooms were perpetrated by men mainly-simply trying to gain access to women-only private spaces…not trans people and
2.) Trans people are becoming an ever-more vocal minority in this country and as such demand civil rights. Civil rights that many people who have yet to encounter a trans person might just be scared to give this minority.
Artists like Brian Adams and most notably Bruce Springsteen who did it first, have taken to canceling concerts in areas where the bathroom bill has been enacted, or past anti-discrimination laws are being repealed. But still the restrictive laws seem to continue to be put up for legislation beyond N.C., even in light of the Governor’s promise.
The can’t-eat-just-one-potato chip-axiom always seem to be applied to passing more legislation once a government branch has got their gears going…especially when it comes to restricting the populace in some way.
Image Credit: andreja pejic
