Bathrooms. They are places where we relieve ourselves of bodily waste. They are places we (hopefully) wash our hands and/or freshen up. They are places we go to change a baby’s diaper. Now, they are places that spark major political controversy. Never did I think that bathrooms would be the focus of politics. Does that mean our country is in the toilet (pun most definitely intended)? Probably.
If you don’t know about these infamous “bathroom laws” in North Carolina, then you must not have logged on to any social media or news outlet in a long time. Which means you probably wouldn’t be reading this, so I’ll assume you know of the law that requires men to use men’s restrooms and women to use women’s restrooms. You have also probably heard the word “discriminatory” used in reference to these laws. Here are some thoughts for you to consider…
- The law IS discriminatory. All laws are discriminatory. The definition of discriminate is to "recognize a distinction; differentiate.” Laws against murder are discriminatory. They recognize a distinction between someone who kills people and someone who doesn’t. Laws against using and selling heroin differentiate between people who use or sell heroin and those who don’t. Laws that prohibit someone under the age of 21 from purchasing alcohol discriminates based on age. So those liberals complaining about how the bathroom laws discriminate against “transgender” people are in fact using the word “discriminate” correctly. What they mean by it, though, is something entirely different. They use it as a negative term implying that it’s unfair or that it violates someone’s basic human rights.
- If a man has the right to use a women’s restroom or locker room because he “identifies as a woman” or a woman has the right to use the men’s restroom because she “identifies as a man” (which is the version no one talks about for some reason), then other discriminatory laws should be done away with as well. If I am under 18 then I should be able to buy cigarettes as long as I identify as a 19 year old. If I run a red light, I shouldn’t get a ticket if I identify as an emergency worker on the way to some tragedy. If I’m a pedophile, I shouldn’t have to register as a sex offender as long as I identify as someone who hasn’t sexually violated a child.
- There are certain things about yourself that you can choose and/or change. You can change your hair style, your job, whom you date, how you dress, your opinions and beliefs, and many other things. There are also certain things you cannot change no matter how much you wish you could. You can’t change your age; it changes on its own. You can’t change your race even though you can change your skin color. And can’t change your gender. You can change your preference of sexual partners but you cannot change your gender. “Transgender" people like to say “I’m not defined by my genitals!” They are right. You aren’t defined by your genitals in the same way as you’re not defined by your race, faith, job, or any other singular aspect of yourself. However, something IS defined by your genitals: your gender. You don’t get to pick that because God picked it for you. Anyone who thinks they know better than God does is dead wrong.
If I, as a man, want to go into a women’s restroom or women’s locker room, then I am free to do that. I can choose to do that just like I can choose to snort cocaine or shoplift. I just need to be ready to deal with the legal consequences. Laws obviously don’t keep crime from happening, but they serve as a deterrent. Laws like North Carolina’s bathroom law won’t keep perverts out of restrooms where our women and children are a little more vulnerable; but, it will at least lower the chances by hopefully discouraging potential criminals. The sad part is that there actually has to be a law to say that men use men’s rooms and women use women’s rooms. It’s a shocking look at the moral decline of our country; a decline which is led by liberals and their twisted version of “human rights.”
At the end of the day, it’s about a delusional woman thinking she's a man so she WANTS to use the men’s restroom. Or a man WANTING to use the woman’s restroom because he doesn’t think his penis makes him a male. It’s all about WANTS. What about what I want? Call me old-fashioned, but I WANT my wife and daughter to be able to go to the bathroom or change their clothes in a locker room without having to worry about a man being in there. I don’t care if he’s completely harmless or a violent rapist… I don’t want him in there because he doesn’t belong in there. I also don’t want a woman in my bathroom or my locker room. But I’m more concerned about my wife and daughter. The difference between my wants and a “transgendered” person’s wants are that mine are based in reality. Unfortunately, what’s becoming “reality” these days is when a state has to actually make a law to require a man to use a men’s bathroom and vice versa. I thought that was common sense. But I guess common sense isn’t a thing in this country anymore.
That's all for now...
Sex is defined by genitalia; gender is a spectrum of masculinity and femininity. Your ignorant, poorly-thought-out views are poisonous, and whatever the root cause of your thought processes are, be it religion, conservatism, or simple foolishness, they're simply wrong. There has been no record of a single incident of a transgender person ever assaulting or violating anyone in a restroom. Just because you're narrow-mindedly uncomfortable with people different from you doesn't give you the right to judge them. Stop dismissively using quotation marks around the word transgender as though you think it's a fake word, your lack of knowledge and research on the matter doesn't afford you the position of taking a righteous stance against the views and experiences of other people that you're too thick-skulled to be able to empathize with.
ReplyDeleteYour use of definitions is equally infuriating, as 'discriminate' is also defined as "Making or showing an unfair or prejudicial distinction between different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex," which opens up entirely new ways for you to be wrong.
You have no common sense. People are absolutely defined by all of singular aspects of themselves coming together, that's what makes them a person. For example, if you weren't a christian that stupidly takes the word of whoever preaches at you at face value, you'd be able to read more deeply into and and see that the point of your religion boils down to "treat people the way you want to be treated," which you are absolutely failing to do.
You're a poor christian and a poor father by making the world your child is growing up in a worse place.
First of all, thanks for reading. Let me address a few of your concerns.
Delete1. Merriam-Webster defines Gender as "the state of being male or female." When you're born with a penis, you're a male child and when you're born with a vagina, you're a female child. Those things don't change based on what someone feels like they are or wants to be as they grow up.
2.The root "cause" of my thought process is a combination of religion, conservatism, common sense, and a healthy respect for the truth.
3. My concern isn't specifically about "transgender" people assaulting anyone. My concern is two fold. Men don't belong in women's bathrooms or locker rooms because they just don't. Same with women in men's locker rooms and bathrooms. Whether someone is "transgender" or not, some people may use this bathroom loophole to assault someone.
4. I will continue to use quotation marks around "transgender" but not because I think it's a fake word. It's a real word but an imaginary status. Thinking you're male when you're female is fake just like me thinking I'm a rabbit when I'm a human is fake. If that were the case, I would expect people to refer to me as a "rabbit" rather than a rabbit.
5. No real definition of "discriminate" that I can find has anything to do with "prejudice" unless that definition is qualified by adding "racial" or some other qualifier. In my post I was speaking of just that word without any qualifiers.
6. You agreed with me while acting like you didn't agree with me when you mentioned that people are "defined by all singular aspects of themselves coming together." See my third bullet point in the post and you'll see what I mean. So I'm glad we can agree on something.
7. I do treat people the way I'd like to be treated. If someone disagrees with me, I would want them to respectfully disagree without being hateful. I am fairly certain I haven't said anything inherently hateful. Some people take it as hateful when others don't hold the same opinions they have on things. Liberals and the LGBT community are especially guilty of this.
8. Just like you claim I don't have the right to judge people that I am "narrow-mindedly uncomfortable with," you have no right to judge what kind of father I am because you are narrow-mindedly uncomfortable with my world view. If I am narrow minded because I don't accept the opinion that men can choose to be women and vice versa, you are equally narrow minded when you can't accept my opinion that men are men and women are women. As for me making the world a "worse place" for my daughter, you can think that if you'd like but I will be raising my daughter to have a healthy respect for the differences between men and women and I will teach her why those differences are important and should be celebrated.
Funny how "anonymous" has the courage to demean someone's religion and family, while at the same time probably defending the persecution of Islam by the West. This is proof why our country has lost its common sense. "Anonymous" also said you have no common sense. The reality and cold hard truth is allowing people with male genitalia to use female facilities is a very unwise decision, and anyone with these views more than likely lacks the very common sense "anonymous" says you lack. I don't identify with any religion, but I do identify with common sense, something "anonymous" clearly lacks.
ReplyDeleteNo, I absolutely don't defend Muslims being persecuted by the West, or by anyone for that matter; religions as a whole shouldn't be held accountable for the activities of fringe extremists. I'm not sure what made you make that "intuitive" leap, but your assumption is incorrect. For example: Christians shouldn't be persecuted because of the activities of the wackos in the Westboro Baptist Church, and Muslims shouldn't be persecuted by the actions of Isis, etc.
ReplyDeleteMy basic point is this: If someone is aware of what genitals the person in the next stall is packing, then the problem is with the person that is going out of their way to make someone else's junk their business.
Here's a thought exercise: Say a female that has been undergoing hormone therapy to increase their testosterone levels before deciding whether or not they want to have sex reassignment surgery is approaching the bathroom doors. This person has been on testosterone for some time; has grown a beard and taken on a few other secondary sex characteristics, making them look like a male; they think "male thoughts"; and basically act like one of the guys. Let's say this is a fairly butch-looking female, and after having grown a beard finds themselves looking similar to the author. Yet, they still have a vagina, despite outwardly looking like the author. Which bathroom do they enter? Do you prefer that someone with a male mindset that looks like a male use the men's room, or would you prefer this male-looking person that thinks like a man to use the women's room , despite them being uncomfortable doing so because they'd rather be in the men's room. This person really has to pee and can't hold it forever... what should they do?
The views you share are consistent with people in the US attempting to suppress legitimate Christian morals and common sense, which led me to my "intuitive leap". I also understand the legitimate use of restrooms by people that choose to be transgender, I really do. However, opening up restrooms so that it may become somewhat acceptable to have Y chromosome individuals in female restrooms will ultimately evolve into drastically increased sexual assaults. It's just common sense. Also, to expose young children to this danger is even more unacceptable. Use your brain, it might help you out in the long run.
ReplyDeleteYou use the term "common sense" very loosely, it seems to simply be what agrees with the morals you've been taught as opposed to any carefully-reasoned train of thought. I try to think before I type, and it's served me well. People have been able to wander into whichever bathrooms they've wanted to for as long as bathrooms have existed (sex-wise, and barring our country's historically lawful bigotry), and bathroom assault rates have remained consistent. A nut job that wants to infiltrate an opposite sex bathroom to cause harm will do it regardless of laws.
ReplyDeleteYou also didn't answer the question I'd posited: which bathroom do you think that person should use?
So I win, right?
ReplyDeleteNo. I just stopped responding because arguing with someone that holds your beliefs is futile since you're so closed-minded to other, opposing points of view.
ReplyDeleteAnd, to answer your question, I'd rather have a woman use a women's restroom whether she has facial hair or not because, get this, she's a woman.
No, no, no. See, I'm open-minded to change, and what I believe is that people should be treated equally. People don't need religion to tell them how to be a halfway-decent person. While there are some good ideas in religions, "do unto others," etc., the stories in religious texts were designed as allegories to explain to people why they should behave themselves, and overly-literal readings and thousands of years of ever-changing interpretation have skewed the core messages and resulted in people being nitpicky assholes to each other because they think their way is the only way and everyone else is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'm not closed-minded to your ideas, because I understand where they come from, how they develop, and why you hold them. I was raised in a religious environment, and was a believer until more and more things failed to add up. I feel that the core lessons of treating others with kindness (with the exception of poor drivers) and being charitable, decent people are universal lessons that everyone should internalize. However, using outdated beliefs to prevent other people from living their lives the way they want to is incorrect and unfair to anyone that doesn't think like you, and is doing a disservice to society's general advancement by hanging on to old ideas without allowing for the possibility of change. People who hold your beliefs are using religion and religiously-based laws as a smokescreen to discriminate against people that are different from them. Whether I have a penis or vagina is nobody's business but my partner's and my doctor's, and it is cruel to force children that are discovering their gender identity to use a bathroom that they're uncomfortable using.
A strawman argument about potential bathroom assaults masks the issue at hand, which is whether or not the transgendered community should be treated like people. Should society start incarcerating or exterminating transgendered people to eliminate the issue and protect our children from the potential that something that has never happened might one day happen? No bathroom assault by a transgendered person has ever been reported, and has nothing to do with whether or not they they should be allowed in the bathroom of their choosing. Yet, the issue of whether or not they are equal is being buried in arguments about possible assaults, as though the entire community are deviants that have simply been waiting for the opportunity to pounce on someone in a bathroom.
I'm going to bring this topic a little closer to the chest, and I'm not doing this to get a rise out of you or to upset you. What are you going to do if the daughter you mentioned in your post turns out to be transgendered? Are you going to force her to dress and act like a girl against her wishes even while she feels like one of the guys? Are you going to throw her out of the house if she wants hormone therapy or a sex change? Would you make her use the ladies room despite her feeling exactly as uncomfortable in there as you do? What if she thinks and acts like a man, and is therefore attracted to women without identifying as gay? What if she is attracted to men, yet has a sex change to become male herself? Does that suddenly classify her as gay, which is against your beliefs (I've read your other posts)?
Or... does none of that matter, because you love her unconditionally and would do anything to make sure that she grows up happily, even if you disagree?
I will raise my daughter to know what men and women are. And if she is into sports, hunting, cars, or whatever people may consider boy things, she will know that she is just a girl that is into those things. She will know that those things don't make her a boy trapped in a girl's body. She will know, because she will be taught, that being "trans" is a choice. An incorrect choice. A sinful choice in that it is a choice that defies God. In relation to other kids she would inevitably meet that have chosen to identify as something other than what they are (since sadly being "trans" is so trendy in today's society), she will be raised to love the sinner and hate the sin. If she mistreats anyone, "trans" or otherwise, she will face consequences at home.
DeleteAs for whether she chooses to be "trans"... if she chooses that path, yes I will love her in the same way I would love her if she chose to murder people. I would be disappointed in her and try and help her work through the sinful choices she has made but I will love her unconditionally.
As for your skewed thoughts on religion... Religion is more than just being a good person. There are things that are 100% wrong. Sin doesn't change with the times or adapt to what society thinks. Being gay or trans is a sin. Plain and simple. It's a choice and a sin. Just like sex outside the bond of marriage is a sin. Just like rape is a sin. Just like beastiality is a sin. That doesn't mean I'm going to mistreat a person that lives in this sin. But I'm also not going to say "you're right, it's not wrong to be this way" because it is wrong. It's not a grey issue. It's black and white. Right and wrong are not fluid things that should be shifted in honor of what you call "society's advancement." Right and wrong are not "outdated ideas." They are universal truths. Truths which I intend to fight for and speak out for despite how unpopular those truths may become.