With all the back and forth over the last few years, I lost track of where/when the issue was actually "started". Was there some single event or attempt to introduce new legislation that turned this into a national conversation? People on the right claim it was started by the left, and vice versa.
Yes, I think the left 'started it.' I disagree that the problem doesn't exist. Sex-segregated facilities have always been a problem for transgendered people. They haven't been able to get anyone to give a **** until now, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem. I see it as a sex discrimination issue and therefore ultimately a civil rights fight. People scoff at comparisons to Jim Crow, but I haven't seen anyone be able to explain what there is to scoff at. I'm sure the sympathetic politicians knew there would be a reaction. It's a bit of a turf war right now, where policymakers on each side of the debate are trying to put in the policies that suit them in whatever domain they control. Liberal states have put in trans-friendly laws. In more conservative states, liberal municipalities had started adopting trans-friendly ordinances. Federally, Obama did what he could through his most relevant agency, the Dept of Education. Now the conservative reaction is coming. We'll see how much of the liberal reform they can really roll back. Doesn't mean the liberals started it because they wanted to incite a reaction. As a wedge issue that can drive donations and voter loyalty, I think it's a poor one. Trans is such a small minority, and one that I think is a bit hard for cis heterosexuals to identify with. I can't imagine a lot of people are making their candidate decisions based on this issue. It's more of a manifestation of a much larger meta-narrative about the parties and the political spectrum -- that liberals seek to be the champion of the civil rights of those on the fringes of society, and conservatives employ a sort of 80/20 rule to focus on the welfare of the main block of America and not worry about the outliers. It's an intellectual laziness to say this issue is just about campaign money. Do you really think I spend so much time typing on this subject because I want the DNC to get more campaign contributions? I don't even like them. I care about it because I think it's a legit civil rights issue.
A terrific post, JV. Wasted on those it is aimed at, unfortunately (and in my opinion), but outstanding, nevertheless.
Of course it's a poor one, but it's the best the LGBTQ groups could come up with now that their cash cow, gay marriage, is gone. They don't have any legitimate civil rights causes left, but if they don't come up with something then they are out of a job.....and Democrats lose out on donations from those groups. Now does everyone have cynical reasons for pimping out this nonsense? Of course not, most are the suckers that this cynical BS was directed at in the first place. There are plenty of people who all of a sudden REALLY care about something that has always been a non-issue, if there weren't, then they'd have switched to a different perceived injustice by now. The fact that they have managed to get their marks to care about something this ridiculous means that it's working.
And when I say all of that, it goes both ways. There are people suckered into caring about this on both sides by cynical politicians and special interest groups.
Hey, I thought you republicans didn't think bathroom laws were necessary... and such things are best left to the local folks... sure looks like the big state government is trying to tell local entities what is good for them. What about overreach? And will that pervy Dan Patrick peek at folks private parts to make sure the right equipment is there?
I still have yet to hear a plan to enforce this. Who's going to be at the restroom doors to verify birth certificates? Will we be required to carry proper paperwork when we go out in public? Will it be allowed for people to peek inside of bathroom stalls to verify the sex of a particular person? I ask this tince it's your preference to have this person (who was born as a woman) in the woman's restroom...
Here is what the bill says about enforcement: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/billtext/html/SB00006I.htm Check the link. It goes on to explain how the AG has to conduct an investigation before bringing suit. This will mean that schools and other public buildings would be exposed to some liability if they tolerate repeated wrong bathroom use. So the managers of those establishments would have to come up with their own policies on how best to avoid complaints to the AG. Checking birth certificates at the door is a red herring. My guess would be that managers would approach known persons ahead of time about bathroom use to head off trouble by leveraging whatever institutional power they have over that person. They might put notices on the doors. Then, they would await letters of complaint. When they get one, they'd try to find the person that causes them trouble to stop the problem. In liberal areas hostile to the bill, they might be very lax because they don't have to do anything if they don't get a complaint, and they'll have 3 days to figure it out if they do get one (and even then, a complainant might not escalate to the AG). I don't like the criticism that the bill is unenforceable. I think it's better described as capricious enforcement. But, I worry that some people will think it's okay to go along with SB6 because it won't really do anything anyway. That they can't really check everyone. What it does is empower any joe-blow off the street to be an informant and a fly in the ointment for any organization that won't go along. And, it puts the onus of enforcement on local institution leadership to drive enforcement through extra-legal means, and not put the burden on some more regular policing approach. It'll be a principal calling a kid to the office. It'll be a courthouse telling a secretary her job might be at stake if she won't comply. Stuff like that.
Soon this will probably be passed and the LBGTQ community will have their fundraising back that they have missed since the SCOTUS gave them what they wanted. They will get just what they wanted.
Must be because all the crap about bathrooms they started was just that crap. It has never been a problem and never would have been until we had cities trying to push this crap trying to fix a problem that never existed. The Texas legislature would have never started such a bill if cities like Houston hadn't tried to fix a problem that didn't exist. Now that state legislatures are acting, it gives them more fundraising capabilities they lost after the SCOTUS gave them their wishes.
