There are so many political stories today and from the past few days and unfortunately, none of them involve articles of impeachment for Easy D. But we’re getting there. So, let’s get to it. Here’s your compendium of deplorable for Thursday.
The Trumps won’t be watching the Oscars. Despite the fact that Trump IS “Hollywood” and despite the fact that he’s known to be an Oscar watcher – he’s live-tweeted the Oscars in years past – Agent Orange won’t be watching this year. Sean Spicer was asked about it at the press briefing on Wednesday and Spicey said: “I think Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions, and I’ve got to be honest with you, I think the president will be hosting the Governors’ Ball that night. Mrs. Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event. And the first lady’s put a lot of time into this event, in welcoming our nation’s governors to the Capital, and I have a feeling that’s where the president and first lady are going to be focused on Sunday night.” Which basically says to me that Trump would love to watch the Oscars but his staff is making him “work” instead.
“So-called angry crowds.” On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: “The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!” This has become something of a GOP talking point in the wake of massive organized protests at Republicans’ district meetings and town halls. Democratic protesters are well-organized and they plan their resistance. The fact that they are organized makes them suspect to the GOP, like there are Republicans trying to “discredit” Democratic protesters because they actually have meetings and plan how they will protest. For real.
Trump’s alternative reality. If you want to be really frightened about the state of the White House and the state of Emperor Baby Fists’ sanity, I suggest you read this Politico story about how White House staffers basically spend hours plotting to present Baby Fists with an alternative reality in which he is being praised constantly on TV.
The Trump White House doesn’t give a sh-t about transgender kids. President Obama set federal guidelines for public schools which would allow every transgender kid to use the bathrooms and lockers based on their gender identity. The Obama White House reasoned that by setting those guidelines, they were in full compliance with Title IX. Trump and his people just revoked the guidelines and they’ve left nothing in place. Apparently, our new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was “hesitant” to sign the new memo, but she likely relented after press from the White House. Plus, part of the new memo says that “schools must ensure that all students, including LGBT students, are able to learn and thrive in a safe environment.” The memo just doesn’t spell out how that’s supposed to happen. Apparently, Jeff Sessions (our new AG) was all for revoking the Obama guidelines. Because that’s what happens when you appoint Jeff Sessions to the DOJ. I also suspect that Mike Pence’s fingerprints are all over this.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I can’t understand the obsession on policing where these kids can pee. I wish they would have left these guidelines alone.
For many people, it is less to do with bathrooms, as it is the policy on locker rooms. Transgender adolescents still retain the anatomy of their biological sex. Many liberal parents that I know fully support gender neutral bathrooms in all schools but do not want gender neutral locker rooms. Locker rooms should be based on biological sex, not gender. While I am not a parent, I can agree with that sentiment (as a liberal). It should be a parents choice when their 13 or 14 year old child is exposed to the anatomy of the opposite sex (notice I said sex and not gender).
But that’s such a stereotype that plays into the whole “fear gays” thing.
Not every person who is trans is gay.
Also, and big also, those children are already dealing with their own issues, big huge mind changing issues.
you think they really care if they see some side boob??
maybe they do, but some straight girls like to see it too. See how that works? Some side boob is downright sexy.
The problem with that is it still puts the kid in a terrible position. You can’t put a trans kid in a locker room not matching their gender, with all the cultural problems that entails. I’m birthright female and would have felt uncomfortable and unsafe tossed into the boys locker room. I have to assume the same would be true for a trans girl. In our culture, trans boys would probably at least be safe in the girls locker room…. Girls aren’t typically so fixated on genitals, which is why in the olden days doctors recommended making intersex kids look female, thinking it would be easier to be accepted even if they looked different. Plus privacy is easier with the girls.
“It should be a parents choice when their 13 or 14 year old child is exposed to the anatomy of the opposite sex (notice I said sex and not gender).”
So the choice should up to the parents of trans teens, as well? Or are choices only for parents of cis kids, because they are the only children worth protecting?
And if you BIGLY agree, just for one second, think what it would mean tor a trans girl to be in the boys´locker room — ALONE– with ALL OF THE BOYS. How safe do you thing she would feel, how positive about her body, how non-othered?
I’m the mother of a middle school age child. Most kids that age do not want to get undressed in front of their peers anyway, so the locker rooms have stalls with curtains for privacy. They usually don’t shower after PE class (ew!) , but the showers stalls have curtains too. We had the same set up when I was young and I assumed this was pretty standard for US schools. If not, that sounds like a project for your PTO fundraisers and would solve this “problem.” I don’t think you’d have to worry about seeing “genitals” unless you went intentionally snooping.
@ jwoolman
yes, you are female, with female anatomy and you identify with that.
A girl who is trans does not. She does not identify with being female, regardless of her anatomy.
She would be more comfortable in the guys locker room because inside, she is male.
I hope this makes sense. It doesn’t matter what is on the outside, we are talking about the inside.
Agreed. There’s also lots of concern over desire to see male anatomy. I know that when I was young like that, seeing male anatomy wasn’t something I wanted at all. Very aggressive for me as a young kid.
“Locker rooms should be based on biological sex, not gender. While I am not a parent, I can agree with that sentiment (as a liberal). It should be a parents choice when their 13 or 14 year old child is exposed to the anatomy of the opposite sex (notice I said sex and not gender). ”
Many trans-teens take hormones, so they are biologically a different sex than the one they were born with. The body of a transgirl is going to look like the one of any girl, even if she wasn’t born that way. So let’s stop for a moment and think about where it would be safer for HER to get undressed.
This isn’t just about being “exposed” to genitalia, it’s about everyone’s right to have a safe place to go to the bathroom, get changed, etc.
So they are worried about exposing children to different anatomies? They would rather force a child to identify with a physical sex they do not feel they belong to, than have other adolescents see something different.
As if a transitioning child would even be comfortable changing completely openly with the current political climate and their own dissatisfaction with their physical state.
Get rid of the problem all together by providing private change stalls.
Better not take your kids to an art museum, then, Millie.
EDIT: sorry, that was bitchy. I just meant that I’m not sure seeing genitals is the point. More that kids should feel comfortable when in a vulnerable situation (e.g. change rooms and washrooms).
“Locker rooms should be based on biological sex, not gender.”
What about children who are born with both types of reproductive organs? What about children who have one gender’s organs on the inside and a different gender’s organs on the outside?
These matters are not black and white.
Original Kay – when I said trans girl I meant she was biologically male but identified as female. In other words, she’s a girl but if no surgery she still has the original male equipment. So Sessions wants to put her in the boys’ locker room.
Wait a minute wait a minute, I graduated HS in the 2000’s and no one got naked in the locker room that I noticed (the girl’s locker room, anyway). And if you needed to get nekkid you could always go into one of the large bathroom stalls, which is what I’m guessing a lot of girls did if they were changing underwear. I was on two different track teams and took our kickboxing gym class so I was in and out of the locker room all the time.
And, I’m sorry, but “exposed to the anatomy of the opposite sex” is an issue? In high school? These kids are sexting. And the kids who aren’t sexting can (and I’m sure have) Google ALL the anatomy. Exposure to everything happened the moment they learned how to operate a search engine. So, like, age 4.
Why is it so important to hide the anatomy of the opposite sex from kids anyway? Couldn’t that even result in a somewhat neurotic relationship with the own and others’ bodies?
My parents apparently forgot to do that and I don’t remember thinking too much about it. It was just natural, someone else’s body, so what?
Millie: I can almost assure you that your children are safe. Trans people do not wish to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves. If you don’t know already, it’s kind of dangerous to be trans. Trans people are subject to a lot of harassment. The LAST thing they want is unnecessary attention. A trans woman would likely want to change in privacy. The only trans woman I know changes in the shower or bathroom stalls in the locker room precisely because she doesn’t want any attention (and in reality, a lot of women change in privacy – not because we’re ashamed, but because we like privacy). The chances of a trans woman dropping her pants in full view of your kids is slim to none. Trans people are not, despite views to the contrary, going looking for the attention. If anything, they want to avoid it. So please, don’t worry about it.
When I was in grades 4, 5, & 6 it was in 1 school building. New everything. Our locker room had a section for quick changes, showers, full changes, and bathroom/sinks. All in the same area, but all isolated for privacy. So, if you were modest it’s not like you had to wait for a bathroom stall to become free to change. This was 2 decades ago and it’s still a great layout imo.
It shouldnt be about keeping genders isolated. It should be about feeling safe. Because when you change clothes you’re vulnerable.
There’s a point in there.
Ugh. This makes me so sad.
I hope healthy debate is fostered here…I mean, I, by contrast, can’t understand how we suddenly have become so obsessed with “going to the toilet”! WTF! Can we move on? I mean how Big is the Trans community exactly? And How does that number compare to Vegans say? Are Vegans being properly catered for in society? Is anyone using the bacon utensils to handle the Tofu behind closeted doors? I mean really. We need a Utensil oversight committee. I’ve Got no problem with Trans people except that they’re an outspoken tiny minscule mob. I demand equal toilet rights for hamsters now!!! My hamster is cute and has hurt feelings having to share a bathroom
Respectfully disagree with your point. Trans folks are at risk for violence and suicide. The people I know before transition are so uncomfortable in their bodies they would do anything not to be seen in any state of undress. I think of one friend with whom I was very close. Our relationship was such that under different circumstances, nudity between us would have been no biggie. I was careful to respect his duct-taping privacy, though I accepted him as he is.
I don’t eat meat, and it is a non issue in my life. No one will hurt me or take away my rights if I want to eat a salad.
I do take offense at the mob term you used. Perhaps if you get to know some transgendered folks it would open your mind.
WTF:
Unlike the commenter above, I disrespectfully disagree with your point, as you seem to be conflating trans PEOPLE’s rights with the rights of your effing HAMSTER. This is the same argument that people make regarding gay marriage when they claim that next we’ll all be demanding the right to marry our dogs. Treating marginalized people who are seeking the same legal freedoms and protections that the rest of us enjoy as if they are animals is wrong. It’s bigoted, it’s hateful, it’s other-ing, and it’s wrong.
Also; Veganism is a choice, while your gender and your sexuality are not. They are part of who you are as a person. Also, this is not about the morals of people who are trans, as it would be if we were discussing veganism. It is about their right to safety and visibility and the protection of a society where people like yourselves believe to them as no more deserving of these things than your hamster.
Your arguments are ignorant at best, and intentionally disrespectful and bigoted at worst. I am so sick of people coming along with arguments that have no bearing on the issue at hand, the people who think that the civil rights movement is somehow just a “miniscule mob” determined to focus on the small issues that we should all just move past. Think for one second; if you were treated as different or as “less than” because of who you are as a person, would you consider it an inconsequential issue to be given the same respect as your fellow citizens? I bet you also enjoy telling people that you have no issue with gay people as long as they don’t “shove it in our faces all the time”, which is basically just a bigot’s dog whistle for telling LGBTQ+ that they are shameful and should hide who they are while all of us CIS gendered folks can walk around holding hands and nobody blinks an eye. So hey, here’s a plan; if this is a non-issue and you’d like to see everyone move past it because it matters so little, how about you just get up on your rep’s phone and tell him to let everyone use the bathroom of their choice. Because you’re right, it would be great to move past this and have it be a thing of the past, but somehow I’m guessing it’s only a non-issue as long as you’re getting what you want. As soon as your comfort level or your bigotry is challenged, then somehow it’s up to the marginalized people to quiet down about this sh*t because it’s really getting on your privileged little nerves.
Are you actually this Tomi Lahren-level hypocritical? Or are you just openly this much of a bigot? I feel like open bigotry and hatred are really having a field day with the Orange Buffoon in office… and I for one have had just about enough of it. I am not here for your straw man arguments and your false equivalencies. Go home to your hamster and take several seats. #haditwithbigots
Megan2, BRAVO! That’s all I got, just BRAVO.
Megan2 is an angry hamster. An angry trans hamster who can’t use the wheel of her choice.
Hey Manx,
Calling me trans is not an insult, if that is what you are going for. Calling me a hamster might be, I guess, if you hate hamsters? I don’t… I just don’t equate hamsters’ rights with human rights.
I’m fortunate; I can use the wheel of my choice, I am not marginalized, and I fit every gender/hetero norm there is. My rights to love who I love, live the way I live and be who I am are not under attack here.
You were right about exactly one thing. I am angry. I am angry that people like you feel safe expressing your hate and your bigotry. I am angry that people are being forced to fight for the basic freedoms that ignoramuses like yourself take for granted. I am angry that someone like you thinks that calling someone trans is an insult, as if it has any bearing on how good/bad/worthy a person is. And I am kind of angry at Celebitchy for allowing such a transphobic comment to be published, to be honest.
But nevertheless. Go ahead and troll. Do whatever you want… one day there will be consequences for bigots like you and WTF. And when that day comes, I will be there with champagne to celebrate on behalf of myself and on behalf of everyone who is harmed by your nonsense. I hope y’all are taking note of how the Nazis were treated at the end of WWII; take notes because that’s going to be you when Orange Hitler is no longer in power.
Cheers,
An Angry Hamster named Megan
@Megan2
I love you My adorable angry Hamster!!!!! xxx
We need more people like you in this world who would always stand for what is right no matter what
@WTF and Manx
Seriously WTF! Both of you need to get the next available ticket BACK to the 30’s. The future has no place for your bigoted mentality.
Thank you.
@Megan2: Fear does strange things to a person’s thoughts and feelings, doesn’t it? (It also makes them ignorant.) Bigots are scaredy-cats. Pity is all I can muster for them.
Rolling back transgender rights is all Sessions. He has always opposed equality for anyone who isn’t a white man. He is a long time enemy of the LGBT+ community. It’s shameful that he is the AG.
They also pressured DeVos into rescinding her rejection under threat of being fired.
You’re right this is what we are going to get under sessions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to bring back Jim Crow (totally serious here). The biggest threat to the US is our own govt. The GOP has proven they won’t do anything to protect us and we are selling our interests to our enemies Russia and China to line the Cheeto’s pockets.
It’s sad how far this country has fallen
I fear this is the opening shot at Title IX.
It’s not *just* Sessions, it’s Pence and let’s face it, most of the current administration.
Let us not forget: http://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/
Where are the commenters who were previously saying that the LGBTQ community would be well-protected and probably treated better under Trump than any prior president? Huh? Show yourselves so we can say “I told you so.”
When will people get that NO ONE is safe under this administration. Even white males can/will suffer with the removal of the ACA, for instance. The environment, women’s rights, minorities, immigrants and on and on: EVERYONE is under the gun.
This initiative came from Sessions, who is a big enough hater to act on his own. Pence no doubt agrees with the action, but he’s not a player in this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/politics/devos-sessions-transgender-students-rights.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Do not underestimate how little Mike Pence cares about anyone that is not a white, Christian male. He also has a history of hatred.
Pence’s sole raison d’etre is to have all US citizens bow down to his brand of extreme evangelical christianity. Watch him when he is asked about it. He goes into a trance like limpness that no other issue can evoke from him. In comparison, when asked a policy or political question he snaps back into dull cliches while sounding slightly disinterested and robotic.
Well worth the read – Pence is terrifying. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-radical-crusade-of-mike-pence-w462223
When Mike Pence dies, I envision him thinking he’s ascending to the pearly gates … only to realize he has to account for his life to a panel of powerful women. And unlike at the presidential debate, he will be fact checked.
Huh. What happened to Trump saying “I will be the best for LGBTQ!” And ” Caitlyn Jenner can use the women’s room at Trump tower!”??? OH YEAH HE LIES ABOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING! Gee i wonder what Caitlyn will say now? Anyone who believed Trump would be good for anyone except rich white men can “put a quarter in your @$$ cause you played yourself ” !
@ Megan, in some ways, it feels like things ARE rolling back. White and Black students at Universities here in the US are asking for segregated buildings for housing and social activism… MLK Jr. would be rolling in his grave: after all the work to END segregation, students are now asking for it.
Yesterday, I read a news story about a street food vendor in the Bronx who put a sign on his cart with “Food for Blacks Only”. It was shut down after a few hours, but as a young kid, who watched the all of the marching for equality and civil rights riots in the mid 60s, it’s mind-blowing. It’s 2017. and we’re moving backwards in female, civil and personal rights!
The cruelty of this administration is crippling. It’s taking everything I’ve got to just keep reminding myself that I’m not the only one fighting what they’re doing, that I can’t fight on all fronts and that I need to pace myself so I don’t drown in anger and sadness.
Dear Trans Kids: A lot of us have your backs. If we need to build you guerrilla bathrooms in your schools, so be it. We will figure this out. Together.
Pure evil. Not a compassionate bone in their bodies. I will never understand someone that voted for 45. He showed us his ugliness and hatred for a solid year and a half. He didn’t hide it. How could someone support that?
I know of someone *with a trans child* (now a post-transition young adult) — who said he “struggled” but came to accept the transition and loves his daughter — who voted for Trump. How does this happen? How did he reconcile his desire for greater ‘social conservatism’ with his love for his child?
He didn’t reconcile anything. He picked social conservatism over the rights of his child.
He struggled, but he didn’t come down in the right side, and didn’t struggle hard enough. There is no way he is 100% accepting if his child, and still voted Trump. Not unless he is purposefully ignorant.
I couldn’t agree more, Tate (and everyone else), and after reading the following article, found myself wishing I was in America so I could do the 10 points:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/do-these-10-things-and-trump-will-be-toast_us_58ac605ae4b07028b704264a?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
What a month it’s been. I really feel for Americans, but fear Australia is travelling towards a similar road, given what some rabid right-wing politicians and commentators are calling for, and the support they are receiving.
Your second paragraph brought a tear to my eye. If my teens and their friends are any indication, I think the younger generation is as confused and aghast at having Pres Trump as we are.
I’m just beside myself at the cruelty not just of this administration but of its supporters. Yesterday I stumbled onto a pro-Trump FB post and the comments were breathtaking — most along the lines of “Trump, you are a gift from God sent to put this country back where it needs to be” and the rest demonizing the left.
You’re so spot-on. I think a lot of people (inside and outside the U.S.) are feeling this way. Sam Bee had a great segment on her show where she interviewed civil rights veterans and their message was very clear. This isn’t exactly new, it’ll take a long-a** time, it’ll be frustrating, it’ll sometimes suck, we’ve been there, it’s worth it in the end. Settle in. Small things matter. I’m probably going to watch that on a daily basis.
And whatever legislators decide, parents and children are still the ones who set the tone in schools. If they make sure trans and LGBT+ kids are feeling safe and welcome, that will go a long way.
This!!! We need to let our schools know that these buildings need to be safe places, supported by school administration. I am fortunate to live in an amazing school system, and I do believe they support safety for every child.
Our kids need to be taught that not everyone is born the same, identifies the same.
Quite honestly, it’s the folks who are not in touch with their sexuality that are the dangerous ones.
It really is. Every day I’m even more horrified by the absolute lack of humanity Trump and his minions have shown. They are truly a bunch of sociopaths hellbent on rolling back civil rights. Right now, the courts are our last hope against this administration since Congress won’t do anything.
@Cannibell Please remember that this was all planned months ago by Sicko Steve Bannon, who wants to create a “shock event” that will destabilize the country and let him create his alt-right government. He WANTS us to be overwhelmed. He WANTS us to be depressed. We can’t do everything that needs to be done. BUT if each one of us takes on ONE issue and really goes after it, we can make a difference. We have to donate to the ACLU. We have to vote out the SOBs so there is no more rubber stamp Congress. Then we have to mail a lot of balls to the Democrats. Tennis balls, ping pong balls, basketballs, super balls – they need balls!
Here is a REALLY scary article about Pepe in the WH:
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/21/1636419/-Yes-Trump-s-Aide-Really-Did-Throw-White-Power-Sign
BALLS!
My favorite! 😆
I think you made a lot of great points, Belle Epoch. I think picking an issue you really care about and focusing on that is a very good idea. Also, I think being vocal with your congress people will give them the balls they’ve been missing.
Thank you for the insight Belle Epoch.
I’m horrified, but it’s good to know where those people stand.
Fascists and Nazis owner their stupid salute, and this people have to use an internet meme. Pathetic.
Thanks, BE – I’m not giving up in any way, shape or form. It’s just that it gets so weary-ing. Thank goodness for all of you in my CB community. You remind me daily that I’m not alone, and that helps keep me plugging along. Bless all of you.
Bannon looks about one crack hit away from removing himself. Darwin award winner in the making.
I don’t wish harm to anyone, just making a prediction.
“The cruelty of this administration is crippling.”
So true. I was just listening to This American Life’s episode about the refugee ban that was recorded in real time as the sloppy Executive Order played out. People’s lives are being impacted in such serious ways by this dumpster fire of an administration.
Slowly but surely, the Emperor is rolling back every single gain in human rights achieved by minorities in the last century. People, speak up – now is the time.
All of this. And then claiming with a straight face that the guidelines had no effect anyway. If that’s the case, then why remove them? What a liar.
Schools can administrate how they choose, I’m guessing.
My problem is the message, like all the others, that say it is okay to discriminate and actively hate the ‘other,’ whatever that means to the alt right.
Slowly? Ugh, it feels like it’s happening at lightning speed to me. One day he’s rolling back regulations on coal companies dumping into water supplies, then an hour later he’s attacking trans rights. It’s like he’s determined to destroy every bit of progress Obama clawed for just because it was signed by Obama.
And it’s terrifying me that Republicans are starting to run with that “paid protester” nonsense he started. Earlier this week in my state one of the representatives FINALLY held a town hall-she tried to limit it to only 130 AND pre screen them, but people still asked her “hard” questions and she went whining to Anderson Cooper about how paid protesters had taken time away from her constituents. It worries me that they have no interest in even pretending to represent everyone AND that the media isn’t pressing them to prove that protesters have been paid instead of being passionate.
It is lightning speed. They’ve done a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
My own representative, who is Republican but pretty moderate and has voted against his party in the past, has started spouting the “paid protestor” nonsense and claims people are bused in from other areas, as an excuse for canceling his town hall and only doing it over the phone. It’s utter BS, and cowardly. They’ve all had it so easy and have done whatever they pleased, but are now faced with having to actually listen to their constituents.
I agree he’s rapidly succeeding reversing Obama’s work. But he’s targeting (or should I say President Bannon?) all entitlement programs, dating back to FDR, and beyond. Any government program that helps minorities (and I include women as minorities) is at risk, and some of those older programs will not be easily or quickly reversed. JMHO.
I hope you’re right PunkyMomma. I’m so scared that with a Republican congress and so many Supreme Court seats possibly up during this term that they’re just going to have their way in gutting the progress we’ve made.
The “paid protestor” nonsense is ridiculous and hypocritical considering the sources. They must have had some collective amnesia when forgetting their own use of troll accounts on twitter and other online news sites to derail civil conversations. Several trolls on my local newspaper website got so bad that I quit looking at the comments online. Even clicking the report abuse button didn’t help – they kept reposting their word garbage and playing the faux victim of “intolerant” liberals card. It’s getting to the point that one major paper has switched completely to facebook comments only, but even that doesn’t deter some of them who either use fake names on facebook or who have an extreme victim complex.
Don’t forget that Trump effectively got rid of the individual mandate for medical insurance just by instructing the IRS to accept returns without any statement about medical insurance filled in. it was already a problem that people were paying the fine rather than getting insurance. No mandate will kill it quickly because the insurance companies will bail if they end up insuring only sick people. And getting a public option is off the table with Republicans in charge.
I guess it’s just a coincidence that Putin viciously attacks the LGBTQ community in his country as well. Gee, these thugs all have so much in common. Nice for them, not so nice for us.
The treatment of the LGTB community in Russia is just evil. I watched a programme about it and was crying. They get arrested, tortured, raped and some murdered by police and gov backed lynch mobs. One young man who worked as an escort said that most of his clients r closeted men who work in Putins gov.
Being a woman or a member of the LGTB community in Putins Russia is very dangerous.
I saw a documentary on Russian prisons, gay inmates are considered pariahs, they’re not even allowed to use the same dishes as the others, who happen to be murderers or rapists.
This is nowhere near great America. This is worst America. And his voters and supporters don’t want to be lumped and labeled racist bigots, well too late – it’s who and what you are. Self loathing humans.
We are truly living in the darkest timeline.
Or perhaps this is the wake up call that we need. Clearly there are many americans who hold racist, antisemitic, anti lgbt, misogynistic views. Maybe we need to hit bottom before we wake up and start acting like humans.
What would jesus do? I don’t classify as Christian, but love me some jesus. How would he go forth? Guessing probably with a whole lotta love.
I’m on the wrong planet.
@ susanne: I thought the Holocaust and other cultural genocides strewn throughout the centuries were supposed to be “wake up calls”, yet, history shows us that unless we FINALLY LEARN from our “mistakes”, we’re doomed to repeat them. Sigh, I just wish so many people, across the world, weren’t such “slow learners”. It truly feels like a physical pain to watch suffering unfold time after time.
Academic says disciplinary action against US President is a matter of when rather than if
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/professor-allan-lichtman-donald-trump-impeached-us-presidential-election-prediction-1984-american-a7593826.html
I honestly don’t give a damn who else is in the bathroom. I do what I need and leave. I don’t think about everyone else and their private business or gender
Amen. The amount of time and energy the GOP spends on worrying about bathroom activities, ffs, is mind-boggling.
Well, they need to create an “issue” to rile up their ignorant, bigoted base. Their whole MO is creating solutions to problems that don’t exist to get deplorables to vote for them. It’s how they get people to vote against their interests again and again.
This is a non-issue but they’re using it as a means to punish those whose lifestyle they do not understand and pandering to their Evangelical base.
This week’s “Intercepted” had Donte Stallworth (yay Patriots!) and ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio talking about this issue and Strangio said that he has never heard of one trans person attacking ANYONE, much less a child in a bathroom.
(of course WE all know this)
He also rattled off some disturbing stats about how dangerous it is to be a black trans woman. Needless to say, Trump’s rollback of Obama’s gains will do nothing to improve their situation. I’m just sick. Everyday, I am SICK at what is happening to our country.
I have a ‘shy bladder’ and I couldn’t give any less f—s who is in the bathroom as long as they don’t try to have a conversation with me haha.
Yup….
This is just another example of how weird and sexual conservatives make ordinary activities like using a public restroom. I’m in, I’m out, I’m not looking to make friends in the ladies room or have a convo. What are these conservative women doing in the bathroom? How would they even know what set of genitals the person in the next stall has unless they’re snooping? They have likely already peed next to a transgender person without even knowing it. As I’ve explained to my husband, contrary to any adolescent boy fantasies, we don’t wander around the ladies room half naked and flashing our bits as some bonding ritual.
@blue-moon
My daughter has a fever and is laying next to me annoyed at my cackling at your post. It’s gospel AND hilarious!
Favorite! What are these conservative women doing in the bathroom?
Preach!!!!
I was at a show – in Canada – in queue for the theatre washroom when this issue came up somehow. Some nice older lady, maybe in her early 70s, said, “Well, I don’t want to be raped!” How does one respond to that? I mean – really, how does one respond?
@Who are these people, (fellow Canadian here) I find asking questions in a non-judgemental way tends to diffuse the fear. Simply say, Oh, I didn’t realize you felt unsafe in public restrooms. Have you felt threatened recently? When you ask it without judgement, people tend to think about what they just said to answer the question and they will realize their fear is unfounded. When you get people to think, they realize this is not an issue.
What is it with men’s restrooms being a place where genitals are out and about? I’m not a guy, but that is way weirder than a trans person using a stall- or even a urinal…I wouldn’t if I were a trans guy, but with prosthetics one would never know.
Does she really think a rapist cares if he is allowed in the bathroom where he wants to hide to wait for a victim?
My daughter attends a very old, well respected college in the state of New York. She lives on a co-ed dorm (co-ed floors) and the bathrooms are for all to use. Each bathroom contains private “stalls” with each toilet behind a lockable door and the showers are private, behind their own lockable door. A row of sinks are shared by all. The result of this arrangement is that there is no sexualization of students in the most basic area of health and hygiene. Students are expected to be equally respectful of everyone, whether they are passing in a hallway, in the library, or after brushing their teeth at parallel sinks. This simple setup helps reinforce an environment where all of the people live peacefully with all of the other people — all sexual orientations, genders, races, religions, side-by-side doing what people do. My understanding is that no bathroom on the campus is restricted to any specific gender and it is a very successful, and respectful, environment for everyone.
Yeah, when I went to college (03-07), we had co-ed bathrooms (toilets and shower stalls) and there were never any issues. As I said above, there simply is no “issue” here. We already have Peeping Tom laws, and it’s already illegal to assault someone (whether or not that occurs in a bathroom). There is simply no evidence that these bathroom laws are necessary. And they are impractical as well (are they going to require people to present their birth certificate to a guard before entering the restroom??)
first of all, he needs to tweet less. look at that, he didn’t even have time to properly spackle on the orange paint anymore. SAD!
secondly, it’s like time ticks backwards with this Administration. every day a new setback.
Nope. I want him to tweet more. No hiding – I want his rants on full public display.
I’m not sure where I stand on this – I find it uncomfortable having “biological men” in safe places like locker rooms and toilets for women and it is not quiet clear to me how to make sure cis-men do not abuse the rights given to transgender men and women.
But I also understand the need for transgender children and adults to be able to use the bathroom of the sex they identify with.
Can someone recommend websites that are enlightening and raise points that support transgender people and can clarify doubts? I’d like to educate myself.
I don’t have websites for you but I’d like to respond with a question. Has this happened before? I know this is something that people point out, that straight perverts will abuse this and randomly walk into women’s bathrooms. I don’t think this is actually something we have to worry about. If a guy wants to accost a woman in a bathroom, he will not wait for a law that offers him a loophole or whatever you want to call it. Guidelines or no guidelines, he’s just an straight guy in the wrong bathroom. How many men will actually do that? My guess is none.
This “danger” argument is a smokescreen. You’re supposed to be afraid. You’re supposed to fear trans people and associate their rights with danger to you and your children. It’s not a thing.
Also, and this is what enrages me every time I hear these people (I’m talking politicians now) talk about protecting the poor women and children, do we really believe that this is what they’re about? Protecting women and children??? Because that would be a first. They don’t give a flying vegetable about us until it serves their agenda. Feminist is a dirty word. When we tell them what we need, they call us names. And then they turn around and use us and our safety as political talking points for something that just doesn’t happen.
ETA: I’m pretty sure someone else will have resouces for you and be more eloquent than I was just now. Sorry for the somewhat unfocused rambling, this topic just makes me sad and upset. These are some of the most vulnerable members of society. Let me assure you, and I mean that sincerely, you do not have to be uncomfortable around them. It’s a little thing for you but a huge deal for them.
Unfortunately, you have not been helpful.
I am a feminist and generally, I support the rights of transgender people.
At the same time, I am also a woman who has been harrassed and abused and I wish my personal hesistance and sceptism would be respected. No one told me to fear transgender people – but SOME men showed me that there is reason to fear some men. The US president is also one of those examples and Michelle Obama’s speech has brought that to light perfectly.
So I am asking in a comment section of a platform where many support transgender rights if they have material, that is education.
I did not ask to be judged for my feelings based on experiences and impressions, or assumptions that are based on two or three of my written paragraphs.
If anybody here has enough empathy for people who have not made up their mind, but are supporting transgender rights by their belief of equality and at the same time also want to do so wholeheartedly, but NEED more education, please recommend enlightening websites.
@ OMG
I read no judgement. perhaps if you did, you need to have a little self reflection and ask why that is.
Her response was actually very kind. She told you not to fear, not to believe that every trans person is a pervert incognito.
Also, being rude is my job. So I’ll tell you that “generally” supporting rights, the rights of anyone, is akin to not supporting them at all. So you just outed yourself as being as ignorant as those who at least admit they dont’ GAF.
And to echo a poster below, do your own research. it’s easy, you just have to type “trans rights” into google. generally speaking, of course.
Judgment? Huh? Her reply to you was incredibly fair and carefully written IMO.
“Has it ever happened before?”
NO. Or if it has happened, it has never been documented:
https://mic.com/articles/114066/statistics-show-exactly-how-many-times-trans-people-have-attacked-you-in-bathrooms#.Rbk16MT5r
@Original Kay, a little empathy, please. Someone who has been assaulted is allowed to have mixed feelings about pulling her pants down in a room that may have a biological man she does not know in it.
I don’t know what just happened, I’m re-reading my comment and I honestly don’t see where you could take offense.
You said it yourself. You have been harrassed and abused by men. Not by trans women. “No one told me to fear transgender people – but SOME men showed me that there is reason to fear some men.” Yes of course you’re being told to fear trans people. Where else does your discomfort come from??? If your only fear is that straight perverts will invade your restrooms and claim to be trans, I’m here to tell you – again – that is NOT A THING. Did the men who abused you wait for the law’s permission? No. You were told that this is a real danger so you started thinking about it. It’s. Not. A. Thing.
And asking for empathy while being so defensive and on the fence about other people’s rights is … interesting. I have a suggestion. Don’t make it about yourself. Ask yourself, instead, how trans people must feel. YOU are uncomfortable? Imagine how they feel. And what you can do for them, for your fellow human beings, to make their lives a little easier.
I think there was one case a long time ago (before any of these laws) where a birthright guy did dress himself up as “female” to bother women in the restroom but don’t remember the details. But laws making life difficult for trans people wouldn’t have made any difference at all. Someone who wants to do that will do it regardless of the law.
I know what you mean about it being helpful in our culture to have a safe place where it is immediately obvious that a guy doesn’t belong. But back in the 70s, we had mixed bathrooms in the graduate dorm and it didn’t turn out to be a problem for me. Even though the exceptions shape our thinking about the world, the reality is that most guys aren’t actually a problem. Everybody needs some privacy and the bathrooms just need to be constructed so they can get it whether in the toilet or in showers etc.
@ Megan
bite me.
Sincerely, OK
I guess one of the things I come back to time and again (and this isn’t aimed at you, @OMG, while your concerns aren’t my concerns I respect that you phrased this in a way that invites respectful conversation and can see that you’re trying to reconcile the two) is – do all of these people think there are never others in their locker room or bathroom who are interested in their gender?
Because, as a bisexual woman, I’m in the locker room with women. Gay men are in locker rooms with men, and I’m in locker rooms with women. HOWEVER, and I think this is the big difference – I recognize that a) a locker room or bathroom is not a sexual place and b) people deserve to feel safe and comfortable where they are changing, so I’ve always gone above and beyond to avert my eyes (as I think most people do of any sexual orientation).
There are always going to be creepy people, and those people will come of any age, gender, and sexual orientation, and thus – just like right now – people should report any suspicious activity where they feel ogled or like someone is making advances. But I really don’t see how having trans individuals in washrooms changes this at all.
Thank you for your comment and recognising that I mean no harm. It is a difficult topic and I feel like our parents have felt with homosexuality: I haven’t grown up with it, it is nothing that goes without saying. So it is an actual effort to change the way I see the world in order to be more helpful in defending equality, especially when I have concerns.
Because my concerns have developed by experiences with cis-men (I suppose) and I am not happy how conditioned I am due to them.
I also don’t think that individual wahsrooms for transgender people help. It still singles them out and especially for children or teenagers, I feel it much more important to have them feel included. As far as I am aware, they already are a minority and have their own fights within the society. I think it should be easier for them.
@tweetime, I am also bisexual and I feel the same way. Plus, if it is so important that we all avoid potentially sexually interested gazing in the locker room, why don’t we demand some sort of certification of heterosexuality at the door, too?
I dont have a website but I believe the best argument is that the sex crime statistics simply dont favor the idea that trans folk are waiting to prey on our little girls. On the other hand, transwomen in mens bathrooms could be a dangerous proposition for them.
To be honest, I’m not entirely comfortable either. Perhaps its conditioning but I’m not exactly wanting to find anybody with a penis in the bathroom on one of those nights when I’m working late and its unlikely anybody else will come in. Maybe I just see the penis as too potential a threat to be completely ok with this.
I think the solution is a federal mandate to have two single stall bathrooms based strictly on sex not gender. One male and the other female. And then the main bathroom with multi stalls can be unisex for everyone who doesnt care about this.
I think your penis comment got a good point. And it is quite sad that this is the way we sometimes feel, eh?
And you’re right, I can see that transwomen particularly are in a threatening space.
I think the concern some people – parents especially – might have is that cis-boys might abuse this by pretending to be trans, and entering a female space – NOT about transgenders entering that space. Or at least that’s the concern I could potentially see having if I were a parent. However, perhaps that concern is overblown, because as others have pointed out, if someone is going to invade that space, they may find a way anyhow and other laws regulate attacks etc. I’ve also experienced coed bathroom/showers in college and it was all fine (although I’ll admit I didn’t love at the time sharing a bathroom with boys).
If you are truly interested in the subject matter than do your own personal research and self educate yourself about transgenders.
To make clear how Transgender men and women feel. The simple basic understanding is that these people are born to a gander they, themselves do not identify emotionally, mentally, visually and socially. Even the chemistry in their brain does not fit the sex that their born with. The subject is more complex than what the media portrays transgenders to be. So I advise you to look up documentaries and actual articles that explain Transgenders and not some one’s random opinion article or blog.
Also no one has presented any actual cases, documentations or statistics of transgender men committing sexual battery and assault agaisnt women. People are spreading this fear without anything to back it up. We understand why woman do not want men in a bathroom. But understand that is not the same when speaking about a transgender male who is becoming a woman, identifies as a woman and would equally feel as threaten if to use the men’s rest room as a woman.
My thing is – if someone wants to assault you in a bathroom – they’re going to do it. There’s no magical barrier that is keeping them from just walking in. A man could follow a woman into a bathroom or locker room at any time – nothing is stopping them. If it’s a busy time of day in a public place, maybe that would stop them. But people don’t tend to assault with a ton of witnesses in a crowded area if they can avoid it.
Allowing transgender individuals to use the bathroom where THEY feel safe is more important to me. I don’t feel like they should be punished because some straight dude (or woman or whatever) MIGHT assault someone under the guise that he’s transgender.
The people who I hear regurgitate the “oh boys will abuse it” storyline seem to be republican lawmakers who outright claim that THEY would have lied to go into the women’s room – which really should make the people voting for them question their morals – not the morals of the people who just want to pee in safety. Take Mike Huckabee for example.
“The multiple reports indicate that no transgender individual has ever been arrested for sexual misconduct in a public bathroom, while at least three Republican lawmakers have been arrested for sexual misconduct in a public bathroom.
Former U.S. Senator Larry Craig, Florida state Representative Bob Allen, and Mississippi Congressman Jon Hinson were all Republican lawmakers, and were all arrested for sexual misconduct in a public bathroom.”
That’s exactly it, Erinn.
The fact that they could support someone like Milo and then say that people are in danger from someone who is transgender should really take a moment. But they don’t, they seem to be incapable of critical thinking.
I think the experience in Australia (as this is a law we are also trying to get right here) is that transgender people are less likely to change in the open. For many different reasons they are more likely to use cubicles. I have daughters entering teenage years and yet it may seem a little confronting to think they may find themselves naked in front of another child transitioning but in reality that child is likely to be very discreet.
And if a person wants to exploit this law they’ll do it whether the law exisits or not. That doesn’t trump (sorry bad choice of words) the rights of others to feel safe.
@omg Here is a link to an article that summarizes the issue.
http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2016/05/31/3-reasons-why-bathroom-laws-matter
OMG, Please see my comment above about my daughter’s college and how they handle bathroom use. I can tell you that she has had ZERO issue with anyone violating anyone else’s privacy. She feels that sharing space actually allows students to see each other more as equal people, rather than sexual creatures that must be kept separate — less predator and prey and more just people taking care of basic human needs.
Ideally, there will always be private spaces for those who are most comfortable with toileting, bathing or changing clothes in a totally private space. All in all, I suspect that most people just want to use the bathroom — but if made to gender-identify, they want to enter the room designated for who they are. Most people, of ALL gender identities, are not pervs looking to abuse anyone when they go into a bathroom or locker room, they just want to use the facilities in peace like everyone else.
Very well said. I like how uncomplicated your daughter’s school’s approach is and her mature attitude reflects that. People, i.e. the GOP an their base, are needlessly twisting themselves up over this.
OMG, Go to the website of THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN. This is America’s foremost advocacy group for LGBT rights.
My daughter is gay. She and her longtime girlfriend are great advocates for trans young people. My daughter was past president of the LGBT rights group at her college. They worked for dorms and bathrooms for trans kids on campus. I could not be more proud of them. I cling to the hope that the future belongs to these young people.
My reply was for OMG. Sorry
My closest friend is trans. I knew her before and after her transition, and through her I have met a number of other transwomen. I am cis-gendered but I can share what I have learned which may help you.
Transwomen are often worried, especially pre-transition, about whether they “pass” as women. They don’t want to be stared and pointed at as a man in a dress. They want to blend in and for their appearance to reflect their true gender. As such you aren’t likely to notice a transwoman going into the ladies’ bathroom. She won’t wish to draw attention to herself as a “man.” (And actually the transwomen I know put most other women to shame in terms of dressing well, having their hair done and always wearing makeup – my friend is still paranoid that she looks masculine if she doesn’t “make an effort” but as a result just looks amazing All. The. Time.)
I also suspect the average transwoman won’t want to get naked in a ladies’ locker room pre-op. If you fear as an abuse survivor seeing male genitalia unexpectedly I wouldn’t worry. Many transwomen find looking at themselves naked pre-op tremendously distressing. They are not likely to get naked in front of others for that reason. Plus, as I said, they want to be accepted for who they are – women – and not to be stared at, or worse still, ridiculed or abused.
And as for post-op – well, I have seen my friend naked in a ladies’ locker room at fairly close quarters (and witnessed her happiness and pride at not having to hide and feel ashamed of her own body, and being able to do something that cis women by and large take for granted). Here’s the thing: you can’t tell the difference by looking. You are not likely to realise you are changing next to a transwoman.
If on the other hand you see someone in a locker room who looks like a man in a dress, and who then gets his genitalia out – that’s overwhelmingly likely to be a straight man. They can come into bathrooms and do that anyway.
Oh and two other things:
First, I am told that taking the hormones pre-transition reduces the size of the male genitalia, makes getting an erection almost impossible and greatly reduces the libido. Sexual assault by a pre-operative transwoman is therefore unlikely (and if anyone says, “on the internet I saw”….they aren’t taking the hormones, or not in nearly such high doses as would be recommended pre-transition).
Second: Sexuality and gender are not the same thing. A transwoman may be attracted to women. She may not. If you are concerned that a “biological man” will necessarily be looking at you in the bathroom in a possibly sexual way, that is a wrong assumption. Alternatively, as people have mentioned above, cis women who are gay already share a bathroom with you, so if that makes you uncomfortable, it is not a situation exacerbated by allowing transwoman to use the ladies’ room.
It’s an irrational fear. And you don’t know if they still have any male parts in most cases (unless you happen to know for some reason) I have irrational fears too and try to work through them, recognizing you’re extra anxious can help. Also , they are most likely attracted to men, not sure the stats but that’s easy to google. Good luck! You’ve probably been in a restroom with a trans woman already!
He might not watch those Oscars that night, but he’ll probably record it. He’ll watch the next day when he doesn’t want to worķ, then tweet nasty things about all the celebrities
Trump promised to protect transgender kids, and now he is going back on his words! Why? Why you orange baboon?
Huh. I thought Caitlyn Jenner said Trump was going to be great on transgender rights. What happened?
Trump will be great on “removing” transgender rights. Caitlyn can always go hide at her lovely house and admire the one person she truly cares about: Her reflection in a mirror
the same thing that happened with kanye, probably. trump really doesn’t care about minorities, i don’t understand why they were fooling themselves that way, ‘he won’t be that bad!’ lol watch him.
At least Caitlyn’s eyes will be open to see the real Trump and GOP. She lives in a bubble too.
No her “eyes wont open” after this. She was already spouting the line about letting States decide on her reality show last year.
Exactly. Caitlyn may be a woman, but her world view is still very much privileged white man. Civil rights are federally protected. States don’t get to pick and chose.
Yes, I’d like to hear what Caitlyn thinks about this. Didn’t Easy D say she could use any bathroom she wanted in Trump Tower? But we all know Donald doesn’t make decisions, it’s the vile garbage around him.
I await her press statement, if any. I’m sure she’ll blame Obama because Trump really is better for the LGBTQ community.
Was wondering what she would think of all of this also. Yet, from everything I read, she still has the mindset of a rich privileged older white man. I doubt she says anything.
Yes, Caitlyn has been suspiciously quiet about all this, huh? I guess if it’s not for self promotion or her tv show, it doesn’t matter to her.
Exactly. So much for trans rights advocate. Ugh.
Meanwhile Deflection Dolly is still at it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/22/ivanka-trump-goes-to-the-supreme-court/
Thank you, I was just going to post about that. The Grifter-in-Chief exploits her kids to distract from the horrible things her father does. Daddy launches an attack that kills a bunch of kids? Post Anabella singing in Chinese. Daddy dictates who uses which bathroom, guaranteeing kids will be beaten up in those bathrooms, post a picture of Anabella going to the Supreme Court. Ivanka is nothing but an ugly troll with a lot of plastic surgery.
I’m sorry, but how much is a 5 year old going to comprehend about the workings of the Supreme Court?
Right?
JFC this isn’t a f*cking field trip to the library.
This isn’t f*cking Chuck E Cheese, Ivanka.
Leave your kid with the nanny FFS or better yet, stay the f*ck out of the political sphere entirely, as you are SO in over your head.
(Sorry for all the f-bombs but I woke up angry again today. Sigh.)
“See me being all yummy mummy posing nonchalantly at all these places none of you have access to and you know I shouldn’t either because nobody elected or appointed me to anything, but I do and there’s nothing you can do about it.” I hate this woman so much.
Yeah, that’s what I see too and I’m as disgusted as you are. It’s opportunism and one-upmanship on a whole new level.
I read some of the Replies to her tweet – about half supportive and fawning, about half sarcastic and oppositional. What a crock. I wonder how the so-called judges feel.
Not nearly enough opposition, the fawning is absolutely nauseating. As though they see the Trumps as “family”. Ugh. At least Daddy/Grandpa gets plenty of daily criticism on his twitter.
I think we should encourage Betsy to speak up on this issue to the guys. Her heart’s in the right place on this issue – she apparently managed to make some changes in the language and she seems genuinely concerned by the high suicide rate. She just has to develop some more courage and persistence.
Trump doesn’t really care either way, it’s not something he worries about. Sessions is apparently a true believer (as is Pence) and wants the kids to disappear. She could work on Trump. If Ivanka agrees with her, they could do it together
I feel as though I should send Betsy a pencil as a gift for at least trying, but they would probably arrest me these days. Maybe I should send her a picture of a pencil. In any case, she may not know a lot about education but she needs support on this point.
At least she’s done 1 thing right?
i was born in 1989, and sometimes i feel i was brought up in a world that it’s ceasing to exist. when i was studying history i always used to think i was so lucky i got to live in times in which we’re striving for improvement on a human level, and that certain things would not happen again. with everything happening lately, i’m really beginning to wonder whether my normality wasn’t normal at all, and normal is what my grandparents lived though, because some of the rhetoric is very 1930s.
so upsetting.
Same birth year and I hear you. For so long it did feel like this march of progress that, although stalled sometimes, kept moving to more freedom and recognition of one another’s humanity (along with everything that goes hand in hand with that – respect for animals, environment, etc.).
These last few years I’m starting to believe more and more in the cycle of history. The Fourth Turning is an interesting read on generational cycles.
So imagine how I feel, born in 1942, and I’ve had the excitement of seeing marvelous changes take place in the last 70+ years, and now to see them dismantled and abolished in just weeks — I honestly think I have some form of PTSD. It kills me to see rights that people have fought and even died for disappearing with the stroke of a pen. We were not as backward in the 50s as these cretins are trying to make us now. Where is the empathy?
Bathroom panic/restrictions also hurt boys and girls who don’t dress or cut their hair in a normative fashion. I have known many young women, for instance, who have been chastened by others for being in a women’s bathroom because they look butch. All this pressure is intended to police gender norms until all women look like plastic robots. Dear GOP, those of us gays who lived through decades of your daddy oppression are through with your crap. We are not going to put up with this. RESIST!!
The one year we tried formal school (we home school) my son was teased because of his white underwear, in a changing room, but another grade 3 boy.
It was so bad he started changing, unsupervised, in the bathroom. The teacher didn’t know, I didn’t know until a few weeks later he told me. Devastating. The other boy was not transgender, btw, just a kid who took his feelings out on others.
We tried for 3 months and then went back to home schooling. “kids need to socialize” my ass.
My poor boy 🙁
@original kay, that is just terrible for him. It is unacceptable how kids who are cruel use locker room settings to enforce ideas they get from their parents. Glad you got your guy out of that negative environment.
Frankly, any public bathroom I came across in North America was the least private place. I felt uncomfortable in all of them even though there were only women walking around. To me it would not matter what gender the person identifies with who is also there as long as the walls almost go up to the knees and the gaps between door and frame are half an inch wide. It’s crazy, people are traumatized by seeing a female nipple but being able to watch others poop is apperently alright. 😀
LMAO!
I hate public bathrooms!
when we are out we try department stores, their bathrooms are usually smaller, not busy and cleaner. Or else we duck into Chapters (indigo) or some place like that.
Really!!? Haha you should see what it’s like in China or even Paris :-/
I like that in North America they’re easy to find and no need to pay and often clean(comparably to other places.)
I don’t buy for a second that DeVos was hesitant at all about the language other than she thought it was going to make her look bad. Again.
That he rolled all these back should surprise no one. However he may personally feel, he is always going to pander to his base ( that it happens to align with Putin is not a coincidence either, I’m sure) because he is literally unable to live without the praise and adulation.
I don’t buy the DeVos bit either. Kinda like Ivanka and Jared sweeping in to save the gays from Trump.
Me neither.
But I’m also at the point where I refuse to give anyone on the Right the benefit of the doubt, so there’s that.
I recommend giving Betsy the benefit of the doubt regardless. We need to nurture any tiny spark of humanity we see in the Trump Administration. Make them feel good when they do good.
I’ve read that Betsy is known to be quietly supportive of these issues, so it didn’t come out of the blue.
The paid protesters bit is now the party line. Each member of the GOP who uses it needs to be asked who is paying the protesters and where does one get this job? They are deliberately avoiding their constituents because they know they don’t want to hear what the constituents have to say.
People are going to these things literally holding up their license or ID.
When will people on the Right get tired of being lied to?
It’s almost like they enjoy being treated like morons…SMDH.
Yeah, the paid protesters narrative is making me enraged. It’s clearly rooted in defensiveness. It’s much easier to be angry/hateful than to do a little reflecting on why people are coming out in droves against everything Easy D’s administration is doing.
Just like it’s easier to claim “fake news” than provide evidence to the contrary.
But now they are not only mad at ‘payed’ protesters but at ‘organized’ ones as well.
Blah, if you are not as chaotic as current regime … dictatorship … government, we don’t like you, blah. Why can’t you be just aimless, so we can fuck up USA some more?
Keep in mind they’re accusing the other side of doing what has long been rumored on their side. The Tea Party rallies in 2009 / 2010 had some questionable financial backing, and it’s well known that Trump paid people to attend some of his early rallies.
The idea that Emperor Zero met with people before the inauguration was to smoke-screen everyone. He met with Gore and Leo re the environment/climate change. Screwed the pooch there. Met with Kanye, Steve Harvey, re issues of race, and screwed the pooch there also. Met with C Jenner and screwed the trans pooch.
Doesn’t anyone remember that??
Yes. it was all just posturing.
He will not be watching the Oscars because of “work”. Hahahahaha c’mon! It will be exactly like that chapter in the Simpsons when Homer is forced to go to church and he grabs his headphones and cellphone to watch the game while “paying attention” to the minister. I mean is Trump, you can basically expect anything like that from him. By the end of the night he will be rating on Twitter about how the actors threw tomatoes at him.
I must be really thick because l don’t understand how would anyone know someone’s using the wrong bathroom? Like, I go to men’s bathroom when the line is too long to the girl’s one…. Plus, if a person is dressed like a girl but they aren’t (or vice versa), it’s not like people would check, right? Why would this bother anybody is beyond me. I’m for genderless bathrooms, ideally
I agree. If you really think about it, there is no objective reason why any two people should pee in separate rooms if everyone’s in a stall. If it’s a matter of privacy, then we should only have one-toilet restrooms. The concept of urinals has always struck me as odd, but it’s always been foreign territory to me as a woman. As several others have pointed out above, if someone wants to ogle or sexually assault you, nothing is going to stop them. I haven’t researched the statistics, but I doubt that the majority of sex crimes occur in public restrooms. To me, it’s really a matter of social conditioning (what people are used to) and using the fear of the unknown to achieve a particular political agenda.
And I’d be a lot more frightened of Donald Trump coming near me than Laverne Cox.
I just remembered that a common feeling back in the 70s in my graduate dorm was that mixed bathrooms actually made us women safer. The idea was that a male pervert was much less likely to try something if a guy might be there or might walk in any time. The “a guy might clean my clock” fear that keeps them from insulting us in the street when we walk with a guy. Of course, a woman can be just as dangerous but the pervs assume we’re too polite.
I am puzzled when I hear this nonsense about protecting woman and girls from “men dressed like women”. Google the number of people who have been raped by “men dressed like women”:in public bathrooms vs the #people who have been raped by “men dressed like men”. I am in the Houston area and in the last year we have had two little boys raped by men in library bathrooms.So maybe we should ban men from bathrooms to protect our little boys.#sarcasm
I have yet to hear about a trans woman raping anybody in a public bathroom.There are hundreds of cases of men raping women,men,girls and boys in public bathrooms.
Sorry for typos I am so on my phone and I am so pissed with this fear mongering whether it be Muslims,immigrants
Agree 100%!
You know, this is teaching girls to fear men too, which is what this admin wants. Fear the penis.
Men can’t control themselves, they see a girl in her underwear and might hurt them. So we have to protect you delicate girls, by keeping the bad men away. Rely on us.
It’s so fucking deplorable, the multiple damaging messages being sent.
When really, women and girls have so much to fear from the men who are making oppressive laws that will hurt and endanger them …. far away from any bathroom.
It absolutely plays into and perpetuates that tired old trope.
You are spot on.
They want to keep it as it has been…for all to fear man as he is most important of all…
*vomits*
@original Kay I totally agree with you. When it’s said men can’t control themselves when seeing a girl in her underwear some people are forgetting something. I see young girls and women in tiny bikinis at pools and beaches in front of more men than would be in the bathroom or locker room. Are they hurt by the men while wearing bikinis that cover less than undies and a bra?
This is unsurprising (yet no less pathetic) considering the philosophy under which Betsy DeVos (& her brother Erik Prince of Blackwater infamy) were raised: Christian Dominionism. Their goal is to bring about “the Kingdom of God on Earth.” For Mrs. DeVos, that’s thru the education system, for Mr. Prince it’s down the barrel of an M4 in the hands of a mercenary.
Granted, I am Jewish, but I do think there’s something in the Christian Bible about not judging…perhaps that passage is missing from their copies.
And then there’s that hippie-dippy Jesus guy. Feed the starving? What a loser! 😉
I really wish everyone else in the world would just evolve already. People are not all black and white…there is a very gray area in between male and female. It’s fucking science…it can’t be argued. The mind of another is not the same as yours…get the fuck over it.
I really just…can’t believe any of this is real…
How can so many people not connect the dots?
@frigga- Thank you! I have what is called Turner’s syndrome, in which a female is missing part or all of an X chromosome. It has left me unable to reproduce, and in some cases, it leaves women with no Uterus and/or ovaries. My version is milder, as I am only missing the genetics, not the parts. But I am on hormones for it; have been since the age of 11. I’m 37, and I am basically menopausal. I don’t menstruate unless I take certain hormones, which I don’t; I take the ones where I don’t because it’s simply not necessary. According to all this biology crap being advocated by the GOP, I am not a woman. I am not a man either. A law which says to go to the bathroom based on your biology would mean I would have no bathroom at all!! There’s also the equivalent syndrome for men, Klinefelter’s I believe (though I may have the spelling/name wrong).
This is just ridiculous nonsense. Ridiculous.
I have a trans stepchild. This administration is crushing my heart.
I am so sorry 🙁
Please, there is nothing I can say to make it better, but know we are fighting hard. I hope knowing you are not alone, that people do care for your child, don’t blame them for their own issues (like they were abused themselves so it means people who are transgendered shouldn’t be who they are), and that equal rights are worth fighting for, for everyone. That it makes us stronger, not weaker.
Thank you Kay.
I have a trans cousin and I feel bad when I hear about their rights no being equal and people who are against them
I have a trans family member in a red state, and I’m worried sick for her. Our family has been incredibly supportive of her, but I’m pretty sure some of them voted for Trump, and I just don’t understand how they can claim to love our family member but then vote for someone who wants to make it OK for people to demonize her.
So, DT, the pervert who ogles 10 year old girls and bragged about watching his teenage pageant contestants change, is signing laws to protect young girls from evil men who fake being transgender? Can you say, hypocritical?
Maybe he’s seen the error of his ways.
Look for an increase in violence against the LGBT+ community.
This is exactly what I’m afraid of. My stepchild already has to consider where she goes to the bathroom, how to get through airport security without harassment, etc. It’s already a daily struggle. I don’t want it to get worse for her. She moved to another city that I thought would be more tolerant (Portland) but really isn’t. She’s been harrassed plenty of times. I worry constantly.
God, I can’t even stand to look at photos of him. Those evil pinhole eyes. Those satanic eyebrows. That THING on his head, and those cheap-ass suits.
Ugly inside shows on your outside.
He really is gargoyle-level repulsive.
On the plus side, he looks like shit warmed up. Pasty anaemic shit at that.
It’s comforting to see that he’s aged so spectacularly in such a short time. With any luck etc…
Amen.
Republicans sure do spend a lot of time thinking about other people’s genitals. Pervs.
They do. I wonder if they realize that it says so much more about them than it does about those that they judge.
Isnt that the truth!
I’m really ready for the Democrats to stop talking and start doing something. This isn’t politics as usual.
The town hall type activity is amazing. Hopefully the grassroots efforts will result in more awareness and voting impact in 2018 and 2020.
Have felt sick when Nixon won. Have felt sick when Reagan won.Have felt sick when George W won and I voted and encouraged others and facilitated others and participated in the opponent’s campaign each and every time. I am painfully aware of the Putin factor and other manipulations that very well could have affected the numbers. I am in fact in Florida which was a critical defeat for Hillary Clinton. I am going to say what I really feel for once. It seems like so many including Republicans are horrified and protesting each and every horrible move by Trump and his minions but regardless of the popular vote versus electoral vote debacle why then did these people vote for him or not vote at all or not offer rides and assistance to others who otherwise might have been unable to vote? I believe that now it is more palatable to say how bad he is but many of these protesters voted for him.They had to have and no amount of claiming they did not or that they didn’t know he would do what he is doing now will change that. He is doing exactly what you should have expected. You have the option to change your mind of course but too little too late? I hope not.I really do.
My favorite responses to this by the Right is that “he’s (Trump’s) just making it a State’s right issue, which is what it should be.” NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! This is a Civil Rights issue affecting every American!! It needs to be dealt with on a Federal Level!!
Gosh he looks like a mean old bastard in the above pics. He and Putin are the same man different body. Ugly inside and out!
I think he doesn’t care personally but he is trying to keep the Republicans happy giving them tidbits now and then in hopes that they won’t pursue strongly the investigations of his possible collusions with Russia. Some polls show he has 90% approval of the Republican base.
Is it me, is it the photos, is his orange spray tan so out of control that it’s making his orange crown look lighter, does he need to re-up his dye job, or is his orange crown already fading? Me, asking the real questionstory around here /s
I noticed the hair, too. The orange swirled sherbet color is now mostly vanilla. Maybe it’s a DIY dye job and he’s not had time to spruce it up.
haha i did wonder if anyone else aside from myself noticed.
guess the White House doesn’t want tanning spray on the important documents.
every president seems to gradually go gray in that role its only been a month.
I hate trump. Everything, and I mean everything, he does is wrong. Something must happen and soon. We are turning into a corporate-fascist state. EMERGENCY.
” Which basically says to me that Trump would love to watch the Oscars but his staff is making him “work” instead.”
No one “makes” Trump do anything.
“Democratic protesters because they actually have meetings and plan how they will protest. For real.”
It’s a shame they don’t protest against the ravages of neoliberalism when the Democrats are in power.
“The Trump White House doesn’t give a sh-t about transgender kids.”
They also don’t give a sh-t about kids who have been raped by catholic priests. If they did they’d seize the assets of the Catholic Church and shut that putrid organization down.
FU troll!
No FU. And the next time you want to have a go post under your usual ID you coward.