General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSay It to My Face! I Met With Evangelicals Who Oppose Trans Rights
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-duncan/say-it-to-my-face-i-met-w_b_9932274.htmlAnd I told them that they were wrong about us. I told them these bathroom horror stories were unfounded hate speech, the bathroom predator fear was a myth and that transgender people simply wanted to live our lives, free from hate, discrimination or harassment. And I told them how many trans people were committing suicide and being murdered each year because of misinformation and fear mongering.
As I took my seat, I noticed how Minister Terrys hands were shaking as he rose to speak. It was quiet except for an uneasy murmur across the hall and I noticed how no one would look me in the eye. Minister Terry asked if I was going to stay, and I said, Yes, I came to hear what you had to say. There was another prolonged silence as I held my breath expecting to be escorted out of the place of worship, but no one moved.
For the next hour, I endured the canned rhetoric being sold by the Liberty Counsel and hate groups across the country. Often, when people rose to speak, they looked directly at me. I heard a young mother speak of her concern for her 10-year-old daughter in public bathrooms and cried as she said she no longer feels comfortable going in any public restroom. They spoke of how their religious freedoms were under attack and how the LGBT agenda was sweeping the country.
RKP5637
(67,111 posts)directed to so many people. They need to hold a mirror up to themselves and ask, WTF is wrong with us.
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)Initech
(100,081 posts)As nothing more than a wedge issue for the GE. Remember Bush ran and won in 2000 on a fearmongering smear campaign against the LGBT community. Don't think they won't try that again. The evangelicals can't win without driving the fear into their consituents.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)That's what gained supporters and adherents in the 1990s and 2000s for gay rights and same sex marriage. When the enemy has a name, a face, a voice, it's harder to demonize them.
In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a documentary was circulating, showing everyday life in Baghdad, Tikrit and other major population and cultural centers. People were shown shopping in supermarkets, talking in sidewalk cafes, flying kites and generally doing what Iraqis have done for generations. The major media blacklisted the film, because it was clear the United States was going to invade Iraq, and the narrative that was going to be all about weapons of mass destruction, rape rooms, and other lurid atrocities.
Was the young mother in the excerpt concerned about public restrooms two months ago? She was not. Now she's in tears, worried about her 10-year-old daughter. Her worries are baseless, but she doesn't know that. We have to go through Transgender 101. We'll prevail, because as always this fight will not be over until we say it's over, and we say it isn't over until we win. Again.
bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)He's old enough to drive.