First it was the boogie monster, followed by the Sandman and Dracula. And now, the latest to join the list of irrational fears people have: the Transgender.
The Charlotte Observer has decided it knows why people are opposed to those with male genitalia sharing the bathroom with their daughters: they’re just scared of the idea, but they don’t need to be.
The heated debate over who uses what bathroom “has prompted a wave of unnecessary fears and unnecessary laws.” Why is this fear so unnecessary? Well, because according to the editorial, “the battle for equality has always been in part about overcoming discomfort – with blacks sharing facilities, with gays sharing marriage – then realizing that it was not nearly so awful as some people imagined.”
Yes, the right of African Americans to use the same water fountain as whites is being equated to Johnny’s “right” to urinate in the stall right next to Susie. To compare the demand of a tiny minority to violate the privacy of others to the struggles that millions of Black Americans faced is an offense to the civil rights movement.
The editorial comes on the heels of President Obama’s Friday decree, ordering all publicly funded schools to accommodate the wishes of transgender students. The paper claims that Obama’s “guidelines offer a path around fear and discomfort,” that instead of firing people up even more, the letter to the schools “will bring acceptance” and cause the debate to be “a non-issue.” Everyone will just hold hands and sing kumbayah as they all walk into the same bathroom, together.
For those who don’t want to give up their privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms, the article’s conveniently anonymous writer has a solution: just add curtains! “Offer those who are uncomfortable a chance to be comfortable, but give choice to everyone instead of taking it away from some.” Because a hanging piece of plastic is sure to bring “comfort” to those who just don’t want to get over their “fear” of transgenders in the wrong bathroom. And you can’t take away a “choice” that never existed before.
And in case anyone is still concerned, the writer mentions that “there have been no incidents involving locker rooms and bathrooms because of transgender policies.” So the man who choked an 8-year old girl in a public restroom last week in Chicago was not an incident. Definitely not. Or the Toronto man who was arrested for sexually assaulting several women in a locker room after he gained access by claiming he was transgender. Nope, no incidents to see here!
This editorial is just the latest in a string of absurd articles by the Charlotte Observer. Last week, the paper encouraged people to boycott their own city in protest of North Carolina’s HB 2 law. Even though continued boycotts will cause many people in the state to suffer financially, “some larger positives [will] eventually happen” because the “rights” of LGBT people will be protected.
Not one of the paper’s LGBT readers? Just relax and allow Obama to help you work through your irrational and unnecessary fears.
