Gainesville Shower-Nuts, Here We Go Again

You will remember that a group of extremists here in Montgomery County, Maryland, tried to relegalize discrimination against transgender people by telling citizens they should sign petitions to stop men from going into ladies rooms. In fact there was nothing in our law about restrooms. There had been something in an early draft of the bill, but because the shower-nuts complained during the legislation development process, the County Council removed that wording.

We came close to having a referendum on the nondiscrimination law, based on the allegation that it would allow creepy perverted men to lurk in ladies locker-rooms and restrooms. Luckily, there weren't enough signatures. The Citizens for Responsible Whatever turned in 30,087 signatures. After one court got through with them, that was down to 26,813. After another court looked at it, by my arithmetic they had 15,937 signatures. They needed 27,615. They did have more than half the number they needed, which tells you how many gullible people in our county are able to sign their correct names.

Down in Florida they passed a law that did put in wording about restrooms. The Gainesville city council voted 4-3 to allow transgender people to decide which restroom they would use. Now they've got shower-nuts of their own down there, saying the exact same stuff ours were saying. And why not? It worked so well in Montgomery County.

See if this doesn't sound familiar. The NYT:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A blond girl heads from a playground into a women's restroom. A scruffy-looking man, lurking outside, darts in behind her. "Your City Commission made this legal," the words on the television screen read.

The advertisement came from opponents of a gender-identity provision added last year to Gainesville's antidiscrimination ordinance. The provision allows the city's roughly 100 transgender residents to use whichever restroom they choose.

Foes want to repeal the provision with a ballot measure on March 24. The issue has divided Gainesville, a generally gay-friendly university city in staunchly conservative north Florida.

Supporters of the transgender protections say opponents are using the dispute to unleash a broader attack on the rights of gay and transgender people in general. Foes Say Law Protects Predators

Honestly, I should tell you, yesterday I got a phone call from a friend who's visiting in Florida. He called me from the highway on his cell phone to say, "You might be interested in this. Did you know that down here they have a new law that anybody can use whatever bathroom they want?" We talked.

This ad actually makes exactly the opposite point from the one the Florida shower-nuts want to make, but people are so ignorant they don't get it. Here's the stupid video they're showing down in Florida.



Look, when I saw this, I thought it was showing a transgender man, that is, a person who has transitioned from a female to male gender identity, going into the ladies room, which he'd have to do if the law is repealed. Like, for instance, CLICK HERE for a photo gallery of real transmen, men who were originally assigned female gender. There're a lot of beards, chrome-domes, rippling muscles, whatever, these are guys. They look just like the guy who is going into the ladies room in the Gainesville ad.

Now, the funny thing is this. The new law down there says that men who used to be designated female can use the men's room. And this video is a perfect example of why you'd want that. You don't want this macho, bearded transman going into the ladies room, he'd make the other ladies very uncomfortable, even if he used to be a lady himself. Look at the video. You want that person to go into the men's room. But if you forced people to go into the restroom for the gender they were assigned at birth, that is, if the shower-nuts get their way, this is exactly what you'd get.

Turn it around, look at the ladies. CLICK HERE. Do you want these women going into the men's room? Unh-uh. No, you don't.

Why in the world would those idiots down there want to force people to use the wrong restroom? This is one of those examples where the answer is actually embedded in the question. Hint: look at the word "idiots."

It might make you uncomfortable to know that the person in the next stall used to be ... whatever you aren't. I'm sorry, that person needs to pee sometimes. I really, I mean really, can't see why anybody wants to pick on transgender people, of all the things in the world. And it makes absolutely no sense to demand that men use the ladies room and vice versa, which is essentially what overthrowing the Gainesville law would do.