On Wednesday, March 23, the North Carolina Republican lawmakers held a special off-session meeting (at the tune of $42,000) to introduce a piece of anti-LGBT legislature under the guise of protection for women and girls. The bill was rushed through the House and the Senate (with the Democratic Senators walking out in protest) while Governor McCrory sat in his office, pen poised, to sign the bill into law late on Wednesday night. The whole process took less than 12 hours.
In a "Meet the Press" interview on Friday, I watched in disgust as Republican Representative Dan Bishop sat with a smug grin and called the bill a "return to common sense" because Charlotte had put the protection and safety of women at risk by their new LGBT-friendly ordinance.
Once again, we hear from Republican lawmakers that a sexual predator has been waiting for the moment when putting on a dress and some lipstick will give him the access he needs to assault women and girls in bathrooms. Yes, because that's all that's been stopping him.
Let's be honest. This bill has nothing to do with the protection of women and girls in bathrooms and everything to do with how transgender individuals make the members of the North Carolina General Assembly uncomfortable. If this were really about the protection of women and girls then we would be hearing about tougher crackdowns on catcalling and men grabbing at women on subways, buses, and bars. We'd be hearing a lot more about victim shaming, the misogynistic treatment of women from the Republican front runner for President, and sexual assault in universities.
But we don't hear any of that. No, the North Carolina Republicans are only worried about women and girls in the bathrooms. They're on their own once they leave the safety of four walls and some porcelain.
It has already been demonstrated that laws that allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their affirmed gender have not resulted in an increase in sexual assault of women and girls. There are already laws in place that make assault (in any location) illegal. So why these bills?
Because transgender individuals make the North Carolina Republicans uncomfortable. And like any schoolyard bully, they will target who they perceive to be weaker. Governor McCrory and Dan Bishop, you are bullies and bigots.
In a misguided attempt to protect women and girls, they have likely contributed to the assault and bullying of numerous LGBT youth in the North Carolina school system. By not allowing transgender kids the protection of using the bathroom of their affirmed gender, they are outing countless children who will now be forced into bathrooms that don't fit their gender identity and likely don't fit their outward appearance. Many of these kids have been using their affirmed bathroom for years, and this law will identify them as being transgender when schools are forced to deny them access to the bathroom they've been using.
Clearly, protection of women and girls only extends as far as those with the proper anatomy. If you're intersex or transgender, like my child, then the North Carolina Republicans don't care what happens to you. They don't care. Evidence shows that discrimination contributes to the high levels of depression and suicide in transgender youth and this bill just encouraged it. And if you read this article, that's probably what these people want.
By not allowing Charlotte to add the LGBT community to the class of individuals who are protected from discrimination they have openly declared that it is okay to discriminate against them. Their law now puts every public school in the state at risk of losing federal funds because they've made it illegal for public schools to adhere to the Title IX protection for transgender students. So now, instead of protecting women and girls, the state is at risk of losing $4.5 billion dollars of federal funds meant to ensure their girls and boys an education.
Every LGBT child who is bullied, every transgender individual who is assaulted, every business that loses money because of the backlash of this bill is their responsibility. Not because they are trying to protect women and girls. Because of their open discomfort with the LGBT community.
When you are more focused on the genitals of my child and children just like her, YOU are the pervert, Governor McCrory and Senator Dan Bishop. So, let's be clear and get this out in the open. You are not worried about the safety of the women and girls in your state. You are worried about sharing a bathroom with someone who is transgender. You are disgusted by the LGBT community. You have no desire to protect their rights and their safety. You will use women and girls to move your bigoted ideas forward showing, once again, that females are objects to be used when convenient but not important enough to protect with real policies.