The NY Times’ Frank Bruni is Very Upset about HB2, and is, obviously, Blaming Republicans and a hilarious, clueless manner
The Republicans’ Gay Freakout
OUR infrastructure is inexcusable, much of our public education is miserable and one of our leading presidential candidates is a know-nothing, say-anything egomaniac who yanks harder every day at the tattered fabric of civil discourse and fundamental decency in this country.
But let’s by all means worry about the gays! Let’s make sure they know their place. Keep them in check and all else falls into line, or at least America notches one victory amid so many defeats.
That must be the thinking behind Republican efforts to push through so-called religious liberty laws and other legislation — most egregiously in North Carolina — that excuse and legitimize anti-gay discrimination. They’re cynical distractions. Politically opportunistic sideshows.
Well, not, that’s very interesting, considering that it was the city of Charlotte, NC, run by Democrats, which initiated this whole thing with their passage of a gender confused bathroom law. The NC law, HB2, did a few simple things, one of which was to restrict local cities from forcing private businesses to allow transgenders to use the bathroom, locker room, and showers of their “gender identity”. If a company wants to do this, they are welcome to do so. It is their choice.
I thought liberals approved of choice. No?
As for the real issues, yes, we have them. So, why are so many Democrats, like Frank Bruni, so utterly concerned with a law that simply reaffirms freedom of choice for private entities as to who uses their bathrooms? Mention the danger from ISIS and radical Islam, and liberals mostly shrug and say it’s much ado about nothing. Gender confused in bathrooms? 5 alarm fire!
BTW, if the public educations system is “miserable”, whose fault is that? It’s not Republicans who run it, are the majority of teachers, and control unions.
And the Republicans who are promoting them are playing a short game, not a long one, by refusing to acknowledge a clear movement in our society toward L.G.B.T. equality, a trajectory with only one shape and only one destination.
A confused man wanting to use the ladies room (bathroom, locker room, showers) is not equality, it’s a privacy issue, among others, especially when some who aren’t TG will take advantage to spy on women (and vice versa for confused women). But, enforcing compliance is super important to Leftists, rather than fixing our infrastructure.
THE party’s anti-gay efforts not only undermine its pro-business stance but also contradict conservatives’ exaltation of local decision making. The North Carolina law was drafted and passed expressly to undo and override an ordinance in the state’s most populous city, Charlotte, that extended L.G.B.T. protections against discrimination to transgender people who want to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The law went so far as to forbid any municipality from instituting its own anti-discrimination protections, lest they contradict the state’s.
Wow! That is one seriously convoluted, and deluded, argument. First, Conservatives understand the primacy of the States and the People, as the 10th Amendment notes. Furthermore, as noted above, HB2 reaffirms that it is the choice of the businesses as to whether they will allow the gender confused to use the bathroom of their gender identity.
Let’s also note again, Democrats loved when the federal government said that state law could not be primary, when it was Arizona’s (and other states’) illegal alien laws. HB2 simply reaffirms, as with all states, that state law takes precedence over local law. This all goes to show that Liberals aren’t concerned with law nor deeply held beliefs, they are interested in feelings based on the moment. It’s a great government model, is it not? /sarc
One thing related I do want to note. I’ve mentioned Fullstream Brewery in Durham in at least one post, as complaining about not being able to build gender neutral bathrooms, and they’ve been big complainers in many local news articles about HB2. I reached out to them, and, according to the company, they’ve had a policy in place for 5 years allowing transgenders to use the bathroom of their choice
So, there is at least one company who does this, and, if they want to, that is their choice. Government should not stop them, and HB2 reaffirms that it is the choice of the private entity. Some may not like it, and they can choose to not engage in commerce with that business. HB2 is most assuredly pro-business, rather than Government telling them they must do something.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Read: NY Times: Say, Why Are Dems Freaking Out About Gender Confused Bathroom Law When There Are Serious, Real Issues? »
