Do progressives care more about women, or people who think they’re women?

February 13, 2008

Thanks to County Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg and the unanimous vote of our County Council, my county now has a law that will go into effect soon, allowing transgendered males to use any women’s restroom facilities that are open to the public. So a man with alternate “gender identity” can use the women’s locker room at the local community pool where my mother and sisters swim.

Here’s how the law defines “gender identity.”

“Gender identity means an individual’s actual or perceived gender, including a person’s gender-related appearance, expression, image, identity, or behavior, whether or not those gender-related characteristics differ from the characteristics customarily associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

So if a person considers himself transgendered–whether or not that is clear to others–he suddenly has carte blanche to invade the privacy of women, even if his self-perceived identity is not apparent to others. His word is the first and final authority on whether he feels he should be allowed to use the women’s facilities. It is impossible for the law to determine whether he indeed considers himself a woman, or whether he might have other motives.

Furthermore, this bill extends not only to county or other public property, but to any facility that is open to the public.

No exemption for religious organizations.
No exemption for religious educational institutions.
No exemption for places of shared nudity.
No exemption for small businesses (less than 15 employees).
No exemption for renters looking for roommates.

So yesterday, my mother, who is 50 and a woman of limited energy, stood outside the polls for four hours in freezing rain to gather signatures for a referendum on this disgusting law. Since 25,000 signatures are needed for a Montgomery County referendum, it’s likely that this petition will be unsuccessful.

Perhaps civil disobedience will be necessary to break this ridiculous tyranny.

Go to www.notmyshower.net for more information.

February 13, 2008
Categories: Current Events, Democracy, Ethics, Politics, Tyranny . Tags: civil disobedience, Duchy Trachtenberg, feminism, gender, gender identity, identity, law, lobby, locker room, montgomery county, not my shower, queer politics, restroom, Trachtenberg, transgender, Tyranny, women's health, women's rights, women's safety . Author: Peter Schellhase

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And the following insight is from Starmaiden:

"I read your blog on the Maryland Trans bathroom issue. I see where you are coming from -- to a degree, but i also see things from the point of a TS person. If people don't want us using womens bathrooms, but clearly using the mens room is unacceptable fr both social and saftey resons, then it is laid upon these nay sayers to make public facilities just for us. This is the same idea as family restrooms -- in which any person, of any age or gender can use. A person has no right to complain if they don't seek practical solutions to an "issue." Well, at least that's my two cents."