# Republicans' war on transgender people: Omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 3, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609 "2022-06-03T02:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/881 "2023-06-01T08:45:55Z")
I’ve been in bus stations where they use blue lights in the restrooms to discourage IV drug use (because it makes it hard to see your veins). [The effectiveness of this is debatable](https://towardtheheart.com/update/the-consequences-of-blue-lights-in-public-washrooms). As for the transgender law - the actual intent is for overbearing and malign busybodies to confront anyone they suspect to be in the wrong restroom. The effect, as already seen, will be for ciswomen who are deemed to be even vaguely masculine to be harassed by these assholes. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/882 "2023-06-01T10:00:38Z")
Well, if I were in America, I’d be fucked. I have a big nose and short hair. And my post-menopausal body has lost curves but gained a paunch or two. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/883 "2023-06-01T16:30:09Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > overbearing and malign busybodies to confront anyone they suspect to be in the wrong restroom. The effect, as already seen, will be for ciswomen who are deemed to be even vaguely masculine to be harassed by these assholes. Ayup – something a bit like this happened to me a couple/three decades ago, right here in (mostly) blue Massachusetts – a pair of middle-aged biddies at another table where I was enjoying fried clams with friends gave me the disgusted/shocked death stare when I went to use the women’s restroom, just because I had a freshly trimmed pixie haircut, wore no makeup, and was dressed in loose unisex barn clothes. They didn’t actually leap to their feet and shriek “Pervert!” but you could read it in their faces. People like them are undoubtedly going to volunteer eagerly for the bathroom police under the blessing of transgender laws. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/884 "2023-06-01T19:25:46Z")
I get misgendered regularly, and getting (at least) double takes in the restroom is also a fairly regular occurrence, so the entire South has pretty much become a no go zone for me and my family. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/885 "2023-06-02T23:04:13Z")
There is a drag show brunch this Sunday in my small town. Of course the Republicans are outraged. Of course the churches have been preaching against it and of course there are death threats coming in to the restaurant. The local Democrats have organized so that we form a human shield so that the performers can safely enter the building. Fucking America. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/886 "2023-06-03T21:57:48Z")
Kudos to your doing so. Hoping to hear that it’ll in fact just go smoothly and without incident. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/887 "2023-06-03T22:13:39Z")
We received word that we are not needed and to stay away unless we have tickets. Apparently, a journalist called the sheriff and asked why he wasn’t taking the death threats seriously. Viola, police protection for the event. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/888 "2023-06-03T22:20:46Z")
🙂 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/889 "2023-06-04T01:39:17Z")
A library book discussion event with a transgender speaker—NOT a drag show or anything “Drag Queen Story Hour”-adjacent—[has been canceled in Butte, MT due to concerns about running afoul of recently passed anti-drag-show laws.](https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-news/butte-silver-bow-cancels-library-event-with-trans-speaker-citing-new-drag-story-hour-ban) > [@](#): > > The Butte-Silver Bow Public Library canceled an event featuring a transgender speaker that was slated for Friday at the request of the county attorney over concerns it could violate the [newly enacted](https://dailymontanan.com/2023/05/23/drag-ban-sex-definition-and-micwa-bills-signed-into-law/) ban on drag story hours in Montana. > > “We regret to announce cancellation of our highly anticipated ‘First Friday’ speaker. This decision is in response to recent legislation (HB 359) and the recommendation of Butte-Silver Bow County,” Library Director Stef Johnson wrote in a message on the library’s [website](https://buttepubliclibrary.blogspot.com/) and [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/buttepubliclibrary). “Our commitment to promoting inclusivity and intellectual exploration remains, but not in violation of the law.” […] > > It was to feature Adria Jawort, a Billings-based trans/Two Spirit writer […] > > Jawort said in an interview she was slated to talk for about 45 minutes about the history of transgender and Two Spirit people in America and the West. […] > > Eileen Joyce, the Butte-Silver Bow County Attorney, told the Daily Montanan that someone had sent the county a message through its Facebook page calling attention to a Twitter post Jawort made about the upcoming event which they said led them to believe it would violate Montana’s new law enacted by House Bill 359. […] > > HB 359, which was sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, bans drag performances on public property and prohibits drag story hours – in which drag queens or kings read books to children – at libraries and schools. Violations of the law include fines of up to $5,000. […] > > Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democratic trans lawmaker from Missoula, had told lawmakers the bill would target the trans community in addition to drag performers, but House Majority Leader Sue Vinton, R-Billings, replied to her in February: “This bill has nothing to do with the transgender community.” > > Jawort said she was among the people who testified against the bill during the legislative session and tried to tell lawmakers that trans people would get looped into the drag performances bill. Same like abortion rights restrictions, this is all about pretending that oppressive legislation isn’t actually going to oppress anyone, right up until you get it in place and can wield it freely. “Oh stop overreacting to this proposal, we’re not going to infringe your rights, we’re not going to infringe your rights, we’re not going to infringe your rights… gotcha!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/890 "2023-06-04T02:13:16Z")
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s anti-drag law, the first of these blatantly unconstitutional laws to have been passed, has been overturned. > **[Federal judge overturns Tennessee's ban on drag shows – Tennessee Lookout](https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/06/03/federal-judge-overturns-tennessees-ban-on-drag-shows/)** > > Late Friday, a federal judge overturned Tennessee's new drag law, ruling that it violates the First Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/891 "2023-06-05T09:10:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Apparently, a journalist called the sheriff and asked why he wasn’t taking the death threats seriously. The police take death threats against drag shows very seriously. They make sure that the threats can’t be traced back to them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/892 "2023-06-05T11:28:09Z")
That was pretty much my take on it. The show went off without violent incident, but we won’t know the damage done to society by the performance for a while yet. I assume all the vids in town are now gay. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/893 "2023-06-05T11:58:52Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > we won’t know the damage done to society by the performance for a while yet Mark my words, there will be hurricanes and pestilence hitting your part of the world shortly. (Of course, God’s smiting aim isn’t so good, so he may end up accidentally hitting another state and a lot of upstanding Christian folk rather than the evil perverts that we all know he hates.) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/894 "2023-06-05T14:46:05Z")
When natural disasters hit blue states and cities, it’s God punishing them for their sin. When natural disasters hit red states and cities, it’s God testing their faith. When natural disasters hit Scotland, it’s God telling them not to put sugar on their porridge. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/895 "2023-06-05T15:24:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > When natural disasters hit red states and cities, it’s God testing their faith. I thought it was mumble mumble mysterious ways mutter mutter. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/896 "2023-06-08T13:13:00Z")
I haven’t seen this one addressed here before, and don’t have a link since it was just something that flashed by on my Instagram feed, but the argument goes something like: _If drag shows aren’t about luring in kids to be groomed, why did they all shut down when [whatever state it was] prohibited kids at drag shows? Why not stay open if you’re truly only targeting adults?_ Hmmm … maybe because the organizers understand that prohibiting kids’ attendance is just a fig leaf for LEOs to raid your show, just in case kids are there. Or because some kid looking at your poster could land you in jail. I’d love to respond, _If your state passed a law prohibiting kids at stock car races, would you really risk holding a stock car race?_ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/897 "2023-06-08T13:18:14Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I thought it was mumble mumble mysterious ways mutter mutter. Mumble mumble indeed… > **[Pat Robertson, broadcaster who helped make religion central to GOP politics,...](https://apnews.com/article/pat-robertson-dead-christian-broadcasting-700-club-91299d0953c014ca6860fe545cac793e)** > > Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has died. He had an enormous impact on American politics and religion. Robertson turned a tiny Virginia television station into the far-reaching Christian Broadcasting Network, where he hosted the flagship “700... Robertson was one of the driving forces that led to the current deplorable situation. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/898 "2023-06-08T15:23:48Z")
That’s a weird argument that suggests the writer has never been to a drag show. They aren’t for kids, and I’ve never seen a kid at one. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/899 "2023-06-08T15:35:08Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That’s a weird argument that suggests the writer has never been to a drag show. Sure, but they clearly believe the whole LGBTQ-grooming narrative, so they must imagine drag shows are not only “for” kids but are actually designed to attract and groom them. From that bizarre POV their argument almost makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609/900 "2023-06-08T15:47:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That’s a weird argument that suggests the writer has never been to a drag show. They aren’t for kids, and I’ve never seen a kid at one. This likely depends on the venue, and the drag show in question. In recent months, there have been planned drag events that were billed as “family friendly,” or to appeal to teens, which have been cancelled due to threats. > **[Chicago-area library cancels drag queen bingo event for teens over...](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/chicago-area-library-cancels-drag-queen-bingo-event-teens-vitriolic-th-rcna47451)** > > The Downers Grove Public Library said the event, scheduled to coincide with National Coming Out Day, “was meant to be an evening of fun and celebration of self-identity and self-expression.” > **[Organizers say they were forced to cancel Forsyth County drag show following...](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/forsyth-county/organizers-say-they-were-forced-cancel-forsyth-county-drag-show-following-threats-violence/AVGDSOEWBRD5TARIYGVKH6MODE/)** > > The show was advertised as a “family fun” event, but many neighbors said it would be inappropriate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-war-on-transgender-people-omnibus-thread/965609.md?page=46)