Ramble On, Amazon

seattlish:

CW: Transphobia under the guise of “protecting women”

Last week, the campaign known as Just Want Privacy was dealt a blow in court regarding its ballot language. Despite their best efforts to conceal the real purpose of the initiative—they say it’s a designed to “protect women and girls” from predators in locker rooms and bathrooms (something that is not an epidemic and even if it was it is not one that would be solved with a bill like this because hello, sexual predators clearly are not deterred by laws), but the truth is that it’s literally just to discriminate against trans people—the Attorney General and the courts determined that the most accurate ballot language would include the word “segregation” because, well, it’s accurate.

Which effectively tossed out the original ballot initiatives the group had filed. They have another one, which they are appealing on Friday, but if I were a betting person, I’d estimate that the ruling will go the same way.

That leaves JWP with two choices: Concede defeat, or take their unfavorable ballot language to the streets and hope that enough people sign the petitions in time to qualify for the ballot.

They appear to be taking the latter choice; from a statement:

After consulting with some of the top attorneys in the nation, we have determined that, regardless of the results this Friday, we will be moving forward with the printing of our petitions and should have them available at a regional petition center near you next week!

Campaigns trying to get on the November ballot have until July to get about a quarter of a million signatures statewide. Other campaigns, like the initiative to raise the minimum wage to $13.50 and provide paid sick leave, have been at it for months already.

It’s estimated, for every week that a campaign does not gather signatures, it’s that they lose about 20,000. With just about 12 weeks remaining,  JWP is cutting it verrrrrrry close, especially if they won’t even be sending out their petitions until next week.

Which like, is objectively a good thing. Because this campaign is not only angling for a discriminatory change to existing legal language, it is actively being lead by individuals who appear to truly, deeply hate or at least grossly misunderstand trans* folks. 

It deserves note—and maybe we haven’t made this clear enough yet—that the people behind Just Want Privacy don’t just want privacy. They are bigots. 

Like seriously, look at some of the shit they have shared on their Facebook page:

I don’t even know where to start.

Oh good, some toxic masculinity. I was hoping for that.

Interestingly, the man in the above news story was not a trans person, nor was this man in any way in costume. He was just a creepy dude in a bathroom and this law would have done literally nothing to protect the 10-year-old in question as there were apparently no adults around to stop him beforehand.

These laws demonstrate a fundamental lack of understand regarding trans folks, their struggles, and their lives. 

So, once more, with feeling, here are a few things that everyone needs to thoroughly understand:

• Trans people are just looking to use the restroom which best fits their gender identity. 
  
• Gender is not biological.
  
• A person’s DNA has nothing to do with their gender.
  
• A person’s reproductive organs have nothing to do with their gender.
  
• You cannot always tell who is trans by looking at them but that shouldn’t matter anyway because fuck the idea that a trans person MUST pass to be accepted; that accepts binary gender as reality, which it is not.
  
• Trans folks are not sexual predators.
  
• Trans women are women.
  
• Trans men are men.
  

Need more reading to do on the subject? Here’s a bunch:

• http://www.autostraddle.com/its-time-for-people-to-stop-using-the-social-construct-of-biological-sex-to-defend-their-transmisogyny-240284/
  
• http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-man-takes-selfie-campaign-fight-ridiculous-bathroom-bans120315/#gs._m34Fbc
  
• https://www.genderspectrum.org/quick-links/understanding-gender/
  
• http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/02/trans-people-dont-owe-you/
  
• http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender
  

ANYWAY, this campaign seems to believe that they’ll be able to get petitions, get signatures, and qualify in November but that is not necessarily how it has to go. 

Take the time to actually check which initiatives are being put before you, and when in doubt, ask to see the language of the bill. If it’s about bathrooms or locker rooms, do not sign it. 

(via nikchick)