It’s easy to understand people’s concerns over the transgender bathroom issue. All of us want to keep our families and friends safe from predators. And there’s the problem — equating “transgender” with “predator,” or with “pedophile.”
As one expert put it, “Our culture is … uneducated about transgender individuals. At worst, this ignorance results in violent hate crimes and murders.” That’s why the hundreds of discriminatory proposals popping up all over the country, including Washington state’s Initiative 1515, are so disturbing. They target the wrong people.
The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women pointed out in a recent statement, “those who are pushing these proposals have claimed that (they) are necessary for public safety and to prevent sexual violence against women and children. Those who perpetuate falsehoods about transgender people and nondiscrimination laws are putting transgender people in harm’s way and making no one safer.”
It is already illegal for anyone to assault others, so we don’t need laws like Washington’s proposed I-1515. Chris Wallace got it right during a panel discussion on Fox News on April 24, when he said, “This seems to be a solution in search of a problem.”