The Many Faces of US Politics...

[whitey]

Someone once told me that I should be worried that one day there will be a "man" in the same toilets as my daughter at school. By "man" he meant transgender woman.

Transgender people are less than 1% of the population (they're 0.008% of NCAA athletes). I've made it to the age of 50 and only managed to meet two transgender people in my entire life. The chances of my daughter being in the same school as a transgender person are somewhat remote. The chances of her using a toilet at the same time as said transgender person are even more remote. The chances of something bad happening as a result are probably smaller than the odds of her winning the Powerball lottery.

Here is what we're expected to believe with all the "bathroom bills" that the culture-war-stoking Rethuglicans and Anti-Woke Warriors are pushing:

A person decides to have life-changing, irreversible surgery, even though it will subject them to a lifetime of abuse, harassment, discrimination, possible violence, and a non-zero chance of being murdered.

They do it because it will enable them to go into a female lavatory, peek under the door, and get sexually aroused by the site of someone going for a slash.

This is what we're expected to believe. This despite the fact that when transgender people do use public or shared lavatories, they are the ones who are far more likely to be assaulted because of the bigotry and hatred being stirred up towards them by the conservatives. This despite the fact there is no evidence that transgender protections increase safety risks. But then conservatives stopped caring about evidence years ago, long before the WMDs business.

This is a completely manufactured moral panic, dreamed up by the conservatives to distract you from the ransacking of the economy by a handful of rich people and to distract you from the immiseration of ordinary working people. It's a complete non-issue that's being used to crowd out any discussion of the real issues that we should be outraged about.

Remember the CRT controversy a few years ago? It quickly fell flat when the truth managed to break through the propaganda that CRT was not taught in schools but was a specialist topic in a few universities. DEI has become the new bogeyman, with transgender people scapegoated as a convenient "other" that's too small to stick up for itself.

Anybody who falls for this scam by buying into the outrage may think they're being edgy, but they're really being laughed at by the oligarchs who are robbing the place blind.

So why are Democrats willing to die on a hill and potentially lose elections taking a stand on a "non issue"?

If you lose the vote of the 0.008% of student athletes (and their families) what's the big deal?

[lenny]

Someone once told me that I should be worried that one day there will be a "man" in the same toilets as my daughter at school. By "man" he meant transgender woman.

Transgender people are less than 1% of the population (they're 0.008% of NCAA athletes). I've made it to the age of 50 and only managed to meet two transgender people in my entire life. The chances of my daughter being in the same school as a transgender person are somewhat remote. The chances of her using a toilet at the same time as said transgender person are even more remote. The chances of something bad happening as a result are probably smaller than the odds of her winning the Powerball lottery.

Here is what we're expected to believe with all the "bathroom bills" that the culture-war-stoking Rethuglicans and Anti-Woke Warriors are pushing:

A person decides to have life-changing, irreversible surgery, even though it will subject them to a lifetime of abuse, harassment, discrimination, possible violence, and a non-zero chance of being murdered.

They do it because it will enable them to go into a female lavatory, peek under the door, and get sexually aroused by the site of someone going for a slash.

This is what we're expected to believe. This despite the fact that when transgender people do use public or shared lavatories, they are the ones who are far more likely to be assaulted because of the bigotry and hatred being stirred up towards them by the conservatives. This despite the fact there is no evidence that transgender protections increase safety risks. But then conservatives stopped caring about evidence years ago, long before the WMDs business.

This is a completely manufactured moral panic, dreamed up by the conservatives to distract you from the ransacking of the economy by a handful of rich people and to distract you from the immiseration of ordinary working people. It's a complete non-issue that's being used to crowd out any discussion of the real issues that we should be outraged about.

Remember the CRT controversy a few years ago? It quickly fell flat when the truth managed to break through the propaganda that CRT was not taught in schools but was a specialist topic in a few universities. DEI has become the new bogeyman, with transgender people scapegoated as a convenient "other" that's too small to stick up for itself.

Anybody who falls for this scam by buying into the outrage may think they're being edgy, but they're really being laughed at by the oligarchs who are robbing the place blind.

Brilliant post. It's a hugely overblown issue which far right populist politicians have used for their advantage.

[Rossfan]

Do males and females use the same toilet in most people's houses?

[Eamonnca1]

Do males and females use the same toilet in most people's houses?

Yes. And on every single plane I've ever flown on.

[Eamonnca1]

Does seem like a topic gets disproportionate airtime and rage... good distraction to get us to beat down on an invisible enemy. Don't think I've ever met someone who transitioned. Maybe I did but didn't realise! I understand the sports argument but all seems ott considering the amount of cases.. some swimmer in America and a very poor dart player...  its as as if our children are all in danger or going to get a teenage sex change... #moralpanic

100%. I know one person who transitioned years ago. I think of her as a woman. It's no big deal. Her existence is no threat to anyone.  I'd let her babysit my kids before I'd let a catholic priest near them.

It's such a rare phenomenon as to be almost statistically insignificant. But our local newspaper here has suddenly been giving acres of coverage in the last year to the local university women's volleyball team, not because of their sporting achievements, but because of the moral panic that's ensuing from the presence of a transgender woman on their team. A completely manufactured controversy that affects a vanishingly small number of people.

People who get outraged by this kind of trivia are letting themselves be used as pawns by the oligarchs who are laughing all the way to the bank with their ill-gotten gains while the rest of us squabble about who gets to use what lavatory. It's pathetic.

I assume you're referring to San Jose state women's volleyball fiasco. Have to disagree on the impact. While it might not impact you or I, it impacts every female on the San Jose team. It does impact the travel arrangements, the changing arrangements - but more importantly it impacts the player who doesn't make the squad and the player who doesn't make the team when the transgender athlete plays. It impacts the opposing teams as well. You simply cannot ignore the biological differences at play in the messy situation of the transgender context of sport and fair play. Anyone who wishes to ignore that in a competitive context is foolish and ignorant of the impact to the other competitors.

Agree that it is no where near as important in the grand scheme of things compared to what we are seeing happen with this administration - but it certainly impacts enough people that it warrants conversation and hard lines in the sand. Pick up volleyball, no problem. Governed athletics - problem.

Does it need some coverage? Of course, the same as any sporting issue would deserve, proportionate to what's appropriate for that level of sport, and confined to the sports pages where you'd normally find coverage of that sport. But front-page scaremongering headlines week in week out? I don't think so.

[johnnycool]

Do males and females use the same toilet in most people's houses?

Yes. And on every single plane I've ever flown on.

Our office which was built 20 plus years ago has unisex toilets and no one has ever complained other than a Spanish lady who give out about lads leaving the toilet seats up.

[Milltown Row2]

Do males and females use the same toilet in most people's houses?

Yes. And on every single plane I've ever flown on.

Our office which was built 20 plus years ago has unisex toilets and no one has ever complained other than a Spanish lady who give out about lads leaving the toilet seats up.

Used to be a bar in Belfast that was unisex toilet facilities. Downstairs in Robinsons, either that or I was way to drunk and walked into the wrong ones lol

[imtommygunn]

It and the kremlin (allegedly  ).

[RadioGAAGAA]

... and thats why the Dems make themselves unelectable.

Chasing daft fringe cases.

Worse, chasing daft nonsensical fringe cases too!

Are you being serious? This is the Republican playbook. Transgender people are a vanishingly small segment of the population, but the moral panic that has been stirred up about them in the last few years has been completely out of proportion. How can you blame Dems for that?

Speaking to the Democratic National Committee, which met to select its new leadership this weekend, the outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, attempted to explain a point about its rules concerning gender balance for its vice-chair race. "The rules specify that when we have a gender-nonbinary candidate or officer, the nonbinary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced," Harrison announced.

As you said yourself , vanishingly small. Yet apparently is ~14% of the Democrat party.

[Unless the Democrat party are in the business of only giving undue representation to certain groups?]

[Eamonnca1]

Where did you get the 14% number from?

[Eamonnca1]

The DEI moral panic is now in full swing. I wonder if it has peaked. Anyone notice how the term "DEI" is now being used as an insult?

Female mayor of a city that suffers a natural disaster? "How's that DEI mayor working out for you?"

Female pilot involved in a crash? "How's them DEI pilots working out for you?" (Even if the other pilot was a fella, or if the air traffic controller was a fella, it must have been the female at fault. Ever notice that?)

Black artist performs at a major sporting event? "DEI!"

Black singer wins an award? "DEI!"

Gay person in a prominent position? "DEI!"

Female bishop? "DEI!"

Female Vice President? "DEI!"

Female Supreme Court Justice? "DEI!"

Apparently anyone in a position of responsibility who is not a straight white man must have gotten there by way of reverse discrimination, and therefore cannot possibly be qualified for the job. The idea that they may actually be qualified and have worked just as hard as anyone else to get there is not even considered.

Well here is the news: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not about making sure the unqualified black woman gets the job. It's about making sure the qualified black person gets the job rather than the unqualified white guy with a rich dad.

If you've internalised the anti-DEI nonsense being pushed by the Anti-Woke Warriors then you're succumbing to their propaganda. Don't let them get to you. Don't let them turn you into a bigot.

[Rossfan]

Is there any coherent opposition to the orange anti human and Musk nonsense being perpetrated on the US population?

[Eamonnca1]

The blue states are doing what they can, but there's a tremendous air of resignation. Mid-terms in two years will be the next chance to put up any major roadblocks to the destructive calamity that's unfolding. The AWWs know it too, which is why they're working so quickly to destroy the government.

[trileacman]

So

A person decides to have life-changing, irreversible surgery, even though it will subject them to a lifetime of abuse, harassment, discrimination, possible violence, and a non-zero chance of being murdered.

A non-zero chance of being murdered? What the f**k is that? We all have a non-zero chance of being murdered.

Are you trying to say that transgender people are more likely to be murdered? Where's the evidence for that?

[Tony Baloney]

So

A person decides to have life-changing, irreversible surgery, even though it will subject them to a lifetime of abuse, harassment, discrimination, possible violence, and a non-zero chance of being murdered.

A non-zero chance of being murdered? What the f**k is that? We all have a non-zero chance of being murdered.

Are you trying to say that transgender people are more likely to be murdered? Where's the evidence for that?

Non-zero