In 2005, fanatical christian fascists in Dover, Pennsylvania attempted to violate the separation of cult and state and put creationism into public schools under the false veneer of “intelligent design” (NOVA episode, on youtube). Despite being an appointee of George Bu**sh**, judge John E. Jones correctly rules that “intelligent design” was creationism by another name and accurately described the creationists’ claims as breathtaking inanity.
The same is happening now in dozens of US states, corrupt, incompetent, and bigoted republicans attempting to legalize discrimination, hate, and violence against Transgender children. There are 102 “bills” that will legislate anti-Trans hate while only seven use the word Transgender in them. It’s as dishonest now as creationists were then. From USA Today:
Over three special legislative sessions this year, Texas legislators introduced 47 proposed bills that aimed to restrict transgender kids’ access to sports or gender-affirming care, plus three bills that would block birth certificate updates for minors. The word “transgender” didn’t appear in any of them.
Proponents of the bills in Texas, which brought triple the number of anti-trans bills this year of any other state, also rarely reference trans people during debate, even though the legislation is about what trans kids can and cannot do. Instead, they use language that categorizes trans girls as boys by using sex assigned at birth to define gender identity.
More anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2021 than in any previous year on record. The 19th reviewed the text of 102 bills in seven states that were primarily designed to restrict access to sports or gender-affirming care for trans youth, like hormones and puberty blockers, and only seven bills mentioned the word “transgender.” Only eight passed, primarily those focused on sports, although legal battles in several states have barred most from going into effect.
[. . .]
Lawmakers’ arguments in support of these bills stress that girls must be protected from losing opportunities in sports against “biological men.” That idea displays deep-seated assumptions about gender, as trans women are portrayed as a threat to cisgender girls’ academic and economic opportunities. As this argument has been repeated across the country, trans people and LGBTQ advocates tell The 19th that their existence is being called into question.
This approach isn’t new, but advocates say it has evolved in recent years.
In 2017, Texas’ failed bathroom bill did not actually reference transgender people anywhere in the text, though the legislation aimed to keep trans people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. North Carolina’s infamous 2016 bathroom bill, which was passed and subsequently repealed after the Associated Press predicted it would cost the state more than $3.76 billion in boycotts, also never used the word “transgender.”
This “approach” is the same as others in the past twenty years, like drug testing for the poor. They know it’s a waste of time and money, and they want taxpayers to be angry at those targeted by hate legislation (“you made us waste money on this!”).
This “approach” is eighty years old: repeat the lie often enough until people believe it, because they know it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny or facts.
These “bills” are not written to “protect cis girls”, not even the writers believe that. They’re written to deny health care to Transgender children, and to make people into targets of – and to encourage – hate and violence.
NPR: ‘It’s Specifically Cruel’: Multiple Anti-Trans Bills Considered In Tennessee
NBC: Texas has considered dozens of anti-trans bills. These moms have helped stop them.
SciAm: Why Anti-Trans Laws Are Anti-Science
Them: Anti-Trans Sports Bills Aren’t Just Transphobic — They’re Racist, Too
Boston Globe: Republican anti-trans legislation is an assault on children
Planned Parenthood: Florida Anti-Trans Legislation: Where It Is and Where It Might Be Headed
I’ll start to think about taking right wingers seriously when they stand at the door of a ladies restroom and tell all the cis women not to complain when he forces trans guys with beards to go in and use those facilities, just because they were assigned female at birth. You just know that if a trans dude came in there, all the typical Karens would scream and object, just because the trans guy was complying with an evil stupid bigoted law that they want to pass everywhere.
You know they’re full of crap when you can’t imagine them tolerating their own law being applied in the reverse case.
That’s the intention: to leave trans people without any access to bathroom facilities, so they can in turn use this to dissuade people from undergoing transition in future.
It’s literally hurting people for the sake of hurting people.