Sunday, May 22, 2016

Pretty silly


As national debates go, if there has ever been one as silly as the one regarding bathroom use for transgender people, I don't know what it is.

Talk about "borrowing trouble."

I don't know any transgender people, but I tend to believe they have been using public restrooms assigned to their current gender for years. I never thought about it before but I figure that's what has been happening and I strongly suspect, truth be told, they would just as soon carry on life without having attention called to them.

Here in Tennessee, our legislature considered a bill that would require schools to require students to use restrooms and locker rooms for the gender on their birth certificates. They wisely decided schools could address those matters without interference from the government and the bill died.

A teacher wrote to the local newspaper, stating just that, saying he didn't want to be checking birth certificates and he was confident the schools could handle it.

On the national level, President Obama pushed through another one of his executive orders, this one saying all public schools should allow students to use bathrooms for the gender "with which they identify" -- or something like that.

His extreme overreaching and abuse of the executive branch of government is every bit as absurd as what our state government considered and decided against.

He needs to stay out of it, just like our state government needed to stay out of it.

I bet, if we handle these matters on a case by case basis, it will all work out.

You want to boycott Target because of their announcement about rest rooms? Well go ahead and boycott Target. It's your right to do so.

I don't shop a lot at Target but, should I need something there, I plan to keep right on shopping there.

But I respect your right not to if their stance on bathrooms is too much for you. That's how the free market works and I can live that.

There are plenty of things to get worked up over. This isn't one of them.


4 comments:

Ed said...

I had an experience with a transgender person in a bathroom a couple decades ago during a night out in Minneapolis. I was using a urinal in a public restroom when a 'lady' in a dress came in, hitched up her dress and proceeded to use the urinal next to me. I think 'she' sensed that I was a bit startled by the situation and made a comment that I should see the line for the women's bathroom. We both had a chuckle and went on with business.

I'm with you on this in suspecting that for the most part, we've been using the restrooms with transgender folks for many years now without incident and I suspect we will continue to do so in the future. However if I'm going to North Carolina, I guess I will bring my birth certificate just in case.

Boycotting Target would be pretty easy for me these days as the one here in town, the only one within a hundred miles, closed late this winter. Now my only other option is Walmart so I do all my shopping online.

Kelly said...

I actually do have a transgender friend online (who, btw, has opened my mind and educated me on a variety of topics). I tend to agree that this is not something that needs an "executive order" or legislation. You've probably seen that my governor has chosen to ignore the order.

As for some of the celebrity boycotts in North Carolina - can't they just make a public statement regarding their opinions without punishing their fans by cancelling shows? No Target nearby for me, either.

Bob said...

And I don't necessarily agree -- or disagree -- with points made by both sides. But I tire of the drama, on which so many seem to thrive. And I suppose if performers want to boycott certain states that enact laws with which they disagree, that is their prerogative, just like the boycotters of Target or anything else. Thankfully, we still have that freedom. For now,anyway.

Pumpkin Delight (Kimberly) said...

It's terribly silly, but I suspect it's just another way to "frighten" people about personal/life style issues in order to keep them preoccupied. If they're worried about the possibility of a transgender person causing trouble in the bathroom, there's less of chance of them worrying about the real problems our politicians are creating. Wouldn't it be nice if there was this much concern over, say, the assaults against women on college campuses, and a barrage of other things which are actually happening, unlike these supposed assaults by transgender people w're supposed to worry about.