Governor Pat McCrory (R) of North Carolina signed a bill into law yesterday that prohibits cities and counties from enacting laws that permit transgender people to use the restroom that matches their gender identity. The governor called the legislature into a special session to nullify a city ordinance enacted by the City of Charlotte that permitted transgender people to do that. Senate democrats, who are outnumbered by republicans refused to participate in the vote and walked out in protest.
The governor, who signed the law, and the republicans in the state legislature who passed it deserve to be enshrined in an eternal hall of shame.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of religion. It does not protect freedom to hate.
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits racial, religious and gender discrimination. Laws that prohibited black people from using white-only bathrooms violated the Fourteenth Amendment and were struck down. The SCOTUS held last June in Obergefell that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits laws that prohibit same-sex marriage. The Fourteenth Amendment does not protect hate.
It doesn’t take a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows. Laws that in effect prohibit transgender people from using public bathrooms violate the Fourteenth Amendment. To argue that freedom of religion protects faith-based hate is absurd because it would create an exception that would swallow the Fourteenth Amendment.
If it were otherwise, we would soon see republicans arguing that the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery, does not apply to anyone who believes they have a faith based right to own slaves. After all, Abraham had slaves and the Bible does not prohibit slavery. Therefore, God is OK with slavery.
Enough is enough.
It’s not OK to hate anyone for any reason. Prohibiting transgender people from using the bathroom of their transgendered identity is hateful and disgraceful.
Frederick Leatherman Law Blog 
There are women straight and LGBT who look very masculine, their are transgendered people who look male or female you would not know the difference unless they tell you, so are they going to force women who are not transgendered to go to the men’s room because in their opinion she looks male? So how do they enforce this bigoted law.
A protest idea:
Regular heterosexual men who are NOT trans dress up in ultra “feminine” dresses and wear high heels and present themselves at the management of whatever location they are in and ask politely, “I would like to [urinate][defecate]; where would you like me to do that?” HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Such attention to where you shit and piss? Is this a normal thing, to be so damned worried about elimination proximity? I don’t even LISTEN to the next stall, much less try to inspect… OY!!
There was a great twitter by a very masculine-looking transgender man who pointed out that the law requires that he use the bathroom with women (I think he said wife or daughter – should scare those weenies a bit). And the dangers of the transwoman who is now required to use the bathroom with men. Think she will be safe?
Found it: http://usuncut.com/resistance/north-carolina-anti-lgbt-bathroom-law/
I don’t understand how the state can enforce laws that prohibit transgenders from using the bathroom of the transgender’s choice if he or she dresses according to his or her gender identity. Bathrooms have cubicles with doors so no one needs to see genitals.
As a practical matter, who would know? Unless they are republicans, people using bathrooms don’t typically examine other people’s genitals. On the other hand, just when you thought it was safe to go into a bathroom, there’s this to consider:
Kansas Bill Would Pay Students A $2,500 Bounty To Hunt For Trans People In Bathrooms
Since Governor Sam Brownback (R) is busy destroying the Kansas economy with massive tax cuts for the rich, maybe that $2500 snitch fee might appear to be attractive to an up and coming member of the Young Republicans.
Republicans: their lows can always get lower. That’s what they do.
OMIGAWD – that is SO scary.
Agreed
Thank you! I raised my children to not hate. Every person is different and that’s ok!! The GOP the party of small government has lost their f-ing minds. They are only small government when it comes to the wealthy. If you are poor disabled black Muslim LGBT they want millions of laws. Disgusting.
The problem is that religion, NOT “freedom of religion,” has always managed to sponsor hate and not only hate, but also violence, towards those the dominant religion sees as disobedient to their idea of God’s will. Throughout recorded history “religion” has been the sponsor of stoning women to death for having (or appearing to have) sex, burning people at the stake for not “believing” in things, slaughtering whole crowds of people for following the wrong god, celebrating the death of “god’s enemies,” blaming “bad” religions for plagues, storms, and misfortunes, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam. This is nothing new; this is a picked-up-dusted-off version of the “right religion” punishing all the “wrong people” for perceived disobedience to a being whose alleged power is so great he need not worry about who obeys and who disobeys. After all, this is the guy who cast the ten sons of Aaron into the earth forever (as in “disappeared”) for burning the wrong incense in the temple. He doesn’t need Alabama Repugnicans, Ted Cruz or anyone else to help him get what HE wants. OMG People are evil and crazy and dumb.
Some people just don’t (or pretend they don’t) know the difference between freedom of religion and freedom to impose one’s own religion on others.