10 Things Scarier Than a Trans Person In Your Bathroom

Last updated on: April 11, 2016 at 4:35 pm by Erin Wathen

10 Things Scarier Than a Trans Person In Your Bathroom 2016-04-11T16:35:30-07:00 Erin Wathen

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We know better than to read the comments section.

But sometimes I can’t help myself. As much as I want to guard myself from the toxic drivel and the deluded persecution complex, I also want to understand what people are so afraid of.

photo by Nicholas Raymond, via Freestock

North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act has initiated similar legislation proposals in other states (including Kansas). In short, these measures would dictate that a transgender person must use only the public facilities designated for their biological sex. Advocates for LGBT rights have spoken out against the measure, calling it open discrimination. National corporations and well-known celebrities have called off dealings with the state until the law is repealed.

Which means that persecuted Christians everywhere are singing their favorite song… Interpreting any pushback as another attack on “traditional values,” life as we know it, and Jesus himself. Not necessarily in that order.

So yes, sometimes when I see this topic come up in my newsfeed, I read the comments. Even though I know I’ll be sorry. I want to understand why people are so terrified of a non-gender-conforming person using the “wrong” bathroom; when stalls are still in place and nobody has to see anybody’s business unless they are trying really hard to do so.

As best as I can tell, the pro-segregation set believe that allowing transgender people to use the restroom of their choice, creates a public safety threat for women and girls. It’s very much a “they are coming for your wives and daughters” vibe out there. Which, clearly, overlooks the fact that anywhere in America provides a public safety threat for women and girls. If we’re going to talk about rape, let’s talk about college campuses. Let’s talk about the military. Let’s talk about football players and domestic violence. Let’s talk about a culture that worships masculinity, objectifies women and glorifies violence–all adding up to a pervading world of male entitlement that is, always and everywhere, a danger to your wives and daughters.

But let’s not confuse a transgender person in “your” bathroom with all of that. Instead, I’d like to explore 10 things that actually pose a greater threat–to men and women alike–than who pees where.

A bad guy with a gun. 297 people are shot every day in America. 48 are children and teens.
A good guy with a gun.
“Normal looking” pedophiles. It’s easy to dream up horror stories about strangers lurking in bathrooms. Easier still if the stranger’s sexual identity is vastly misunderstood by the culture at large. However–most child victims of sexual assault are preyed upon by someone they know. We need to dispel the myth of “stranger danger” if we truly want to protect children from this kind of crime.
“Nice guy” date rapist. Again–it’s more likely to be someone you know.
Alien invasion. Ok, perhaps we’ve changed tone here. But for my money, I would literally worry more about some alien organism hitching a ride back with NASA and proving more “invasive” than a transgender person in my bathroom.
Tickborne illnesses. Also a credible and growing threat.
A viable presidential candidate who openly stokes the fires of racist extremism, proudly promises to commit war crimes, and strongly implies there will be violent protest if he is not the nominee. I’ll just leave this right here.
Government sanctioned discrimination. In addition to the ‘bathroom laws,’ Gay people are still fighting for marriage equality; and with a new round of legislation, many states have given the ok for businesses to refuse services to anyone (including interracial couples, in Kentucky) based on “religious freedom.” I assure you, this is a big ol’ can of constitutional worms we do not want to open. It might be the LGBT demographic this time…but let this kind of bigotry become the law of the land, and it could be your rights on the line next time.
A hot dog. From Burger King. Seriously, that shit will kill you.
Privileged American Christians who feel threatened when exposed to other worldviews; and are prepared to martyr themselves at all costs for their chosen interpretation of the gospel.

I could go on. But either you know, or you don’t, that all this new “legislation” is just one more way to make life difficult for people who already have more than a few cards stacked against them. All in all, the ‘fear for your life/wife’ argument is really an alarmist justification for singling out those who are different, publicly shaming them, and further glorifying gender norms to the detriment of pretty much everyone who isn’t a straight-up straight bro.

It’s also one more way for politicians to pander to a base that will always vote for tradition and privilege, no matter what bigger issues may loom on the horizon. We could be under literal attack by aliens, and there would still be a demographic out there more worried about what’s in their neighbor’s pants than who is protecting the planet.

And fine, let them worry. But stop letting them write the laws.

progressive christianity

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