I confess to being hopelessly confused by the transgender phenomenon. I think many heterosexuals who are (generally) satisfied with their bodies, fidn the issues counter-intuitive and elusive. For example, I am acquainted with a transgender gay man who transitioned from being a married woman who was always attracted to men. He finds the introduction of testosterone has brought about a welcome reduction in feelings of compassion and nurturance. While I struggle to comprehend the convolutions of his story, I realize I will never *truly* understand his feelings. I can only acknowledge my lack of understanding. Yet I don't feel that my confusion and limitations are a reason to marginalize him, or deny his rights. The issue of children is even more confusing to me. I note that other commenters have tried to reduce this to a "you are the body you were born with" resolution. It is clearly much more complicated, and we are only just beginning to recognize a previously hidden segment of our society. Trying to conflate this with puritanical body rules only increases the isolation these children already feel. Even Betsy DeVos seems to realize that protection from bullying is a vital component of education. I suppose making this a front-page issue will not do much to protect the children, we can only hope it will motivate parents to be more circumspect in the messages they pass on to their offspring.
5
To feel "betrayed" by Trumps rescinded promise is to have believed him in the first place. Honestly, Trump's behavior in the past seems to reflect a sympathy for the LGBTQ community, but what the President really feels is irrelevant. He is clearly not at the wheel. He takes homophobic men into his inner circle, and they are Running our government. .
Bottom line? Trump is only interested in ratings and money. He can't be counted on answering to any other call. So if others convince him that towing the homophobic line will make him more popular or rich, he won't think twice about throwing his own standards under the bus. And he is quickly running out groups to make into road-kill.
Bottom line? Trump is only interested in ratings and money. He can't be counted on answering to any other call. So if others convince him that towing the homophobic line will make him more popular or rich, he won't think twice about throwing his own standards under the bus. And he is quickly running out groups to make into road-kill.
3
This issue looks to me like a classic red herring. President Trump knows that very few Americans are transgendered, and that many Americans take a dubious view of those few. On the other hand, millions of Americans are immigrants and/or descendants of immigrants, and feel that deporting undocumented aliens for minimal offenses is the next thing to turning the US into a police state -- but suddenly (thanks to Trump's quick action) the spotlight has shifted from illuminating this horrible issue where he is really up to mischief to one where he has the (unspoken) sympathy of millions.....
6
A huge majority of Americans agree with this specific rollback.
It should be a clarifying moment for the Editorial Board, that when such a controversial notion is forced on the population by progressive leftists, the center and the right join together to push back. Obama was never one to take advice on, what will be the straw, that breaks the camel's back. This was it.
It should be a clarifying moment for the Editorial Board, that when such a controversial notion is forced on the population by progressive leftists, the center and the right join together to push back. Obama was never one to take advice on, what will be the straw, that breaks the camel's back. This was it.
15
What are transgender rights? Why should different groups of people have special rights? That results in an unequal society - I guess the "progressive" ultimate goal?
13
do anything, say anything to pander for support. so Trump. So Sad. So classless.
He gives the outer boroughs a bad name.
He gives the outer boroughs a bad name.
7
When you combine the dishonesty and immorality of President Trump and his Alt -Right mini-me Steve Bannon and the dishonesty and bigotry of the win-at-all costs modern Republican party you give both true Conservatives and Liberals reason to fear for the survival of liberty.
6
The reason Sessions is pushing this is very simple, the man is a die hard foe of LGBT rights, he is from Alabama which has been on the cutting edge of resisting LGBT rights, and he personally is someone who was quite proud to be of the generation that resisted the civil rights era and its aftermath. Sessions has openly stated that he believes the state has the right to regulate the sexuality of private citizens and has talked about how the Lawrence decision could/should be overturned, so this isn't a big surprise.
With Trump you have to understand what he is doing, during the campaign he promised that to try and sway voters who aren't anti LGBT but would respond to his message about jobs. Once elected, Trump is throwing bones to people on issues he doesn't care about, so he put a rabid anti LGBT advocate as Attorney general to please the religious reich types,not to mention Sessions being a lifelong racist, would appeal to the redneck set. he put all these wall street types in his economic team (from Goldman no less) while telling the working class how he was going to fight wall street greed, stop jobs from being sent overseas and so forth, which in large part were caused by Wall Street.
What he figures (and probably correctly) is that those who support LGBT rights but who voted for him because they hated hillary or liked his idea on jobs won't bother to fight. Nick Kristof yesterday talked about these people, and sadly, I think that Trump is correct.
With Trump you have to understand what he is doing, during the campaign he promised that to try and sway voters who aren't anti LGBT but would respond to his message about jobs. Once elected, Trump is throwing bones to people on issues he doesn't care about, so he put a rabid anti LGBT advocate as Attorney general to please the religious reich types,not to mention Sessions being a lifelong racist, would appeal to the redneck set. he put all these wall street types in his economic team (from Goldman no less) while telling the working class how he was going to fight wall street greed, stop jobs from being sent overseas and so forth, which in large part were caused by Wall Street.
What he figures (and probably correctly) is that those who support LGBT rights but who voted for him because they hated hillary or liked his idea on jobs won't bother to fight. Nick Kristof yesterday talked about these people, and sadly, I think that Trump is correct.
2
It seems like until three years ago I never even heard of the term 'transgender'. And now it is the ultimate civil rights issue on the face of the planet. And nowadays, unless the USA completely honors the 'transgender' with all the full rights and privileges they desire then the sacrifices of our nation are in vain.
The soldiers who died for our nation's wars gave away their lives for nothing.
The Founders made worthless sacrifices.
All previous civil rights marches were for nothing.
NO NO NO....as long as one boy who thinks he's a girl (at least for that day) cannot access the girl's restroom than this nation's record on human rights means NOTHING.
So why do I get the sense that this whole issue seems kind of seems made up and is phony? It's probably because up until three years ago I never even knew this was an issue.
And neither did you (if you're honest).
The soldiers who died for our nation's wars gave away their lives for nothing.
The Founders made worthless sacrifices.
All previous civil rights marches were for nothing.
NO NO NO....as long as one boy who thinks he's a girl (at least for that day) cannot access the girl's restroom than this nation's record on human rights means NOTHING.
So why do I get the sense that this whole issue seems kind of seems made up and is phony? It's probably because up until three years ago I never even knew this was an issue.
And neither did you (if you're honest).
11
Since Donald Trump is already campaigning for 2020, I'm sure he, and/or his acolytes (Wait, maybe he's the acolyte.) have figured that there are more votes in breaking his transgender promise than keeping it.
Trump's waffling over LGBT rights is only the tip of the iceberg. he means nothing he says. That is the essence of his lies. We actually have an empty suit as president. The people around him will determine what actually happens just as Jeff Sessions won the arm wrestling match over Betsy DeVoss this time. The match between Bannon and Mattis and Tillerson happening.over foreign policy is still happening. Trump wanders around the White house in his bathrobe wondering what will happen next, and twitters the country away.
Exactly who looks at others in a rest room? Service stations and dept. stores are private or have stalls. Same with restaurants. Large public events have huge stall restrooms and or unisex porta potties. I agree that in jr high there could be issues bc kids are afraid or unsure. But can't this be worked out where necessary? Query? Have any of these crazy people traveled to Europe / Clearly not.
2
Let me get this straight. That anyone in their right mind would believe that the issue of which bathroom to use is a states issue, just doesn't get American Law. The concept is equal protection under the law not religious or misguided protection under the law. Remember, all the folks who thought that DJT and the republicans in Congress and senate, governors, mayors, etc., even dog catchers are beginning to see why a lot of folks tried to make them understand that the future should be controlled by education, protections of the masses and never conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, people voted for someone about whom they had been warned couldn't tell or acknowledge the truth.
The alternate fact is that transsexual folks and/or gays just don't exist. What part of this equation doesn't these misguided foolish DJT people believe makes sense? Transsexual folks are born that way. People who have a sexual preference for their same sex are also born that way. Those folks are not defective, they are the fabric of humanity who deserve to live their lives as they feel fit to do. Have some of these folks committed crimes or are immigrants has nothing to do with the price of eggs at the local food mart. Everybody, whether straight or gay are the fabric of American freedom and do not deserve to be treated differently than the fact that they are human earns. Yes, I'm straight, but not misguided.
The alternate fact is that transsexual folks and/or gays just don't exist. What part of this equation doesn't these misguided foolish DJT people believe makes sense? Transsexual folks are born that way. People who have a sexual preference for their same sex are also born that way. Those folks are not defective, they are the fabric of humanity who deserve to live their lives as they feel fit to do. Have some of these folks committed crimes or are immigrants has nothing to do with the price of eggs at the local food mart. Everybody, whether straight or gay are the fabric of American freedom and do not deserve to be treated differently than the fact that they are human earns. Yes, I'm straight, but not misguided.
5
Can anyone tell me where the federal government has the authority to tell me who will and who will not be in a bathroom with my daughters?
10
Once again a demonstration that Trump has no values at all and responds to the voice of the last person in the room-in this case Sessions. I am surprised and disappointed in Ivanka and Jared, who would allow for this to happen. No wonder the people of NYC want nothing to do with their native son. SAD
3
Unfortunately, biological girls and women have NO civil rights regarding this issue. I have a friend whose biological daughter, 13, identifies as male. Said daughter brought a transgender girl (biological male) to dinner with us. How delighted I was to find the transgender (bio male) girl leering over the stall at me. I did not return to dinner and won't be seeing that family again.
6
My heart hurts. What the heck is going on? How do we fight back?
Trump lied? Say it ain't so.
"Tout a fait le contraire!"Trump has thrown the contentious issue back to the states--states rights--and informed them that if they want to spend millions on transgender bathrooms--a power play by the LGBT lobby if I ever saw one--let them do so.Poses a dilemma for Dem. governors put before the "fait accompli:"If you want to spend taxpayers' money on an issue that majority of Americans oppose, go ahead and do so, and you will be defeated at the polls!Nothing could be more irrelevant to those factory workers out there who have lost their jobs due to offshoring, or landscapers made superfluous by the availabilty of immigant undocumented labor willing to work for less than the issue of transgender rights.
9
I went to a liberal arts college in New England in the late 1970s. In my dorm, all bathrooms were open to both genders. Tracy down the hall could be in the shower (private) while I could be brushing my teeth or sitting on the toilet. Far as I know, none of us were scarred by the experience. Did I mention -- this was in the late late 1970s. Why have we lost so much ground? How can we let regressive minds dictate our direction?
3
I'm scratching my head (SMH for you youngsters) about the hand-wringing both sides are giving to .6% of the population. LGBTQUTNBDHPSOPBD rights are such a lighting rod issuee for the extreme left and extreme right; the rest of us don't care.
To the left: its not going to kill a TG person to go to their "birth bathroom" (is that a thing?)
To the right: TG folks are not bogeymen/women that are going to snatch up your progeny in the bathroom (there's plenty of hetero maniacs that do that jub quite nicely)
Can we report on things that affect the general public's lives in some way?Tempest in a teapot indeed.
To the left: its not going to kill a TG person to go to their "birth bathroom" (is that a thing?)
To the right: TG folks are not bogeymen/women that are going to snatch up your progeny in the bathroom (there's plenty of hetero maniacs that do that jub quite nicely)
Can we report on things that affect the general public's lives in some way?Tempest in a teapot indeed.
8
Remember when we had debates and campaigns over public safety, jobs, education? I miss those days . . .
9
Obamas order concerning transgender bathrooms was blocked by the courts. All Trump did was argue that this issue was best handled by the states and not the federal government. There was nothing in his order or in his reasoning to suggest that he was against transgender rights. As usual, the left characterization of his action is deliberate self serving and untrue. For a group that says it is dedicated to the truth, it's amazing how much propaganda they put out.
8
The inglorious Grifter is not a malleable individual, he is a Liar. He is used as a diversion while his henchmen do the dirty work. Just starting... unless something is done to stop him. 2018 will be telling.
3
"A key part of that guidance advised school officials to allow transgender students to use restrooms based on their gender identity."
Bathrooms have always been designed based on the natural order--why women face long lines at sporting events, men don't. However, this notion of "gender identity" versus actual bodily functions has all the credibility of a Roman sponge-stick.
Why the NYT wants to stick us all with their obsession with sexuality needs to be more closely examined--probably something to do with their first year of life and how mom and dad ignored their sense of "gender identity" and treated them as they appeared to be. So now we all punished? So sad.
Bathrooms have always been designed based on the natural order--why women face long lines at sporting events, men don't. However, this notion of "gender identity" versus actual bodily functions has all the credibility of a Roman sponge-stick.
Why the NYT wants to stick us all with their obsession with sexuality needs to be more closely examined--probably something to do with their first year of life and how mom and dad ignored their sense of "gender identity" and treated them as they appeared to be. So now we all punished? So sad.
11
Only deplorable Trump disciples are concerned with these imagery wedge issues. They make up stories, paint scenarios and supply us with inane anecdotes which signify just how dumb they are. None of this means much compared to real issues, like how do we remove a completely unhinged psychotic idiot from the Oval Office .
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
3
Amid all the hyperbole on both sides of this issue, I'd respectfully suggest a few basic points:
(1) Reversal of the Obama Administration guidance does not change the status quo. The guidance had already been put on hold by federal courts, including the Supreme Court.
(2) The reason the guidance was put on hold is because it clearly violates title IX of the Civil Rights Act. Title IX bans discrimination on the basis of "sex." The term "sex" is virtually universally defined and understood to mean biological sex not gender identity, to the extent the two diverge. The Obama guidance was an attempt to rewrite title IX by administrative fiat. (For more on the legalities see: http://www.musingsfromoceanview.com/2016/09/28/how-not-to-do-culture-cha...
(3) From a policy standpoint, both advocates and opponents of gender-identity bathroom use have legitimate, good faith viewpoints that deserve respectful consideration. Proponents should not be written off as deviates or predators; opponents should not be dismissed as "trans-phobic" bigots.
(4) Bathroom use is the least problematic aspect of the Obama guidance; it can be addressed by "unisex" facilities. Of greater concern are other applications that necessarily flow from the Obama guidance such as locker room and shower use, assignment of dorm roommates, and eligibility for sex-segregated athletic teams and scholarships.
(5) Complex policy and social issues like these are best left to resolution through the democratic process.
(1) Reversal of the Obama Administration guidance does not change the status quo. The guidance had already been put on hold by federal courts, including the Supreme Court.
(2) The reason the guidance was put on hold is because it clearly violates title IX of the Civil Rights Act. Title IX bans discrimination on the basis of "sex." The term "sex" is virtually universally defined and understood to mean biological sex not gender identity, to the extent the two diverge. The Obama guidance was an attempt to rewrite title IX by administrative fiat. (For more on the legalities see: http://www.musingsfromoceanview.com/2016/09/28/how-not-to-do-culture-cha...
(3) From a policy standpoint, both advocates and opponents of gender-identity bathroom use have legitimate, good faith viewpoints that deserve respectful consideration. Proponents should not be written off as deviates or predators; opponents should not be dismissed as "trans-phobic" bigots.
(4) Bathroom use is the least problematic aspect of the Obama guidance; it can be addressed by "unisex" facilities. Of greater concern are other applications that necessarily flow from the Obama guidance such as locker room and shower use, assignment of dorm roommates, and eligibility for sex-segregated athletic teams and scholarships.
(5) Complex policy and social issues like these are best left to resolution through the democratic process.
8
It 's about time we large Blue States exercised our States Rights and stop this Trump nonsense. Whatever he proposes we're against and will fight hammer and tong to remove him from power. It's all about disenfranchising Trump. Once that occurs it won't matter what Republicans do. They're on their way out too. With a rapidly dying off of White America there just won't be enough of them to make a difference at the polls. With Trump's polls not in the 30's they are only going to sink lower. Trump's days are numbered. His effectiveness will become as impotent as his manhood.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
2
At this point we would all be flabbergasted if Donald Trump could spend a 24 hour period without lying.
2
"On Wednesday[Feb.22], the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, justified revoking the transgender school guidance by saying Mr. Trump is a “firm believer in states’ rights.” Whew...as a resident of Washington St. and an occasional recreational consumer of pot, I'm glad the president has our backs on this issue, which was approved by 56% of the state's voters in November 2012.
2
I don't see how any promise was broken. Trump said he would protect lgbt persons and he has. Just as he protects the rest of us. What you are saying is Trump is failing to provide EXTRA rights for the lgbt community. Let's be real here. It's difficult for some kids to be naked in a locker room with their own gender. Saying they now have to accept someone anatomically of the opposite sex into their naked presence is a cruel, insensitive overreach by government. Liberal attacks on schools who have attempted to provide alternate facilities are equally cruel and insensitive.
12
This is just silly. What did Trump do? Looked at the enumerated powers, saw that "bathrooms" aren't included, and gave it back to the States. How, exactly, did he affect LGBT rights? Not at all. He just put them where the Constitution puts them. If you don't like the way your State handles them, change your legislature. And, OBTW, also not in the enumerated powers are: abortion, marriage, education.... They, too, belong to the States, which are the SENIOR partners in our Constitutional form of government.
6
Money is the only guiding principle for Mr Trump. His own first and then those he wants as his friends.
That leaves the mob squad he chose to run amok everywhere else. Malleable thinking in this case is whatever is convenient.
Believing in nothing beyond himself everything else is up for grabs.
That leaves the mob squad he chose to run amok everywhere else. Malleable thinking in this case is whatever is convenient.
Believing in nothing beyond himself everything else is up for grabs.
2
It was'nt a broken promise. Trump lied.
7
It's about going to the bathroom, people, not taking a shower.
5
There are no such things as "transgender rights," there are only Constitutional rights common to all of us. No one in the US is entitled to any rights beyond the Constitutional rights.
13
Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp. It should surprise no one that as a real estate "developer", he is merely developing a new swamp. Unfortunately, it looks and smells as bad (or worse) than the old swamp. Sad.
6
This isn't about morality or bigotry it's about federal overreach and the 10th amendment. Also, the 'guidelines" laid out by the Obama administration were not being enforced and had been halted by courts in several states. So in that respect Trump isn't taking anything away as there was nothing given in the first place.
8
The states rights argument also is used very selectively and conveniently. Witness the Trump administration's decision to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states where recreational use is legal.
3
"President Trump Breaks a Promise..."
Just one of many with many more to come.
Just one of many with many more to come.
3
Leaving it to the states to protect their citizens sure worked well in the 1950s when America was great! It is interesting that the states most likely to repress its citizens just happen to be Red states. We need the federal government to protect us from repressive state governments, but with Trump we are also getting a repressive federal government.
2
Get ready for Trump to establish a pattern of broken promises. Because he is a liar, and liars need impeccable memories to defend what they lie about, there are many more 180's to come. What is most disturbing is Trump's embrace of states' rights on this issue. What that does is abandon his initial statement that seemed to be tolerant of transgenders' ability to choose the restrooms in which they are most comfortable. Trump probably doesn't care about this issue, thus, getting it off his plate and onto the states is, to him, an easy solution. Now that gay marriages are supported by federal law, this issue will end up in SCOTUS, and with Gorsuch on board, transgender people stand no chance of winning something they should win.
1
As a gay man of 70, I expected this. He is a hateful man and lives in the past! I recoment that all of America read the book, "The Emperor's New Clothes".
4
More NYT fake news. Trump isn't fighting against this issue yet the NYT has one article and this editorial just today suggesting just the opposite!!! This has become a daily riitual for this paper that is obsessed with fanning the flames of hatred and Trump bashing. He simply reversed an executive order that was already declared ILLEGAL by the court. He went on to leave the matter up to the states. If he was against it he would have issued a new executive order.
As for my personal opinion, I am totally against allowing any person with male private private parts from sharing the same bathroom with my daughter. Chldren's safety and constitutional rights will surely outrank trangender complaints about a problem that was not on the radar before because it wasn't even a problem. Whatever became of majority rule in our democracy? It seems nowadays extremists want to placate small fractional portions of the populace at the expense of an overwhelming majority.
As for my personal opinion, I am totally against allowing any person with male private private parts from sharing the same bathroom with my daughter. Chldren's safety and constitutional rights will surely outrank trangender complaints about a problem that was not on the radar before because it wasn't even a problem. Whatever became of majority rule in our democracy? It seems nowadays extremists want to placate small fractional portions of the populace at the expense of an overwhelming majority.
13
You do understand we could care less about your personal private opinion. Keep it personal and private. Yours is useless info.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
But, but, but! It makes them feel good that Obama issued the order!
Who cares if it was declared illegal!
The left is getting crazier every day.
Who cares if it was declared illegal!
The left is getting crazier every day.
6
I disagree completely with Betsy DeVos and her family's political stances, but would have greatly respected her if she'd been true to her apparent convictions and refused to sign onto this rollback of civil rights executed by Jeff Sessions. She requested, and received, the political fig leaf of asking that students be protected from bullying while, at the same time, agreeing to approve the actions of the biggest bully on the playground, Mr. Sessions himself. She would have instantly gained a great deal of credibility if she'd simply resigned in defiance, but she chose the path of those who will do whatever is required to maintain position and power. Sad!
3
Where in the Constitution does it say that the Federal Government has the authority to be involved in this?
3
I use the local YMCA gymnasium on a regular basis as does my wife. The real issue for me is not so much bathroom use - who looks at genitalia in the bathroom? Hard to see it anyway and there are privacy stalls. Honestly, in over 6 decades I have never seen a man take out his penis when he was 10 steps away from a urinal in preparation to relieve himself.
But if my wife, who swims regularly in the YMCA pool and showers afterward in the women's bathroom encountered a person who may identify as a woman but is biologically still a male showering next to her, penis, testicles and all, she would find it alarming and very uncomfortable.
Isn't this the real issue here? And under those circumstances, who wouldn't feel uncomfortable? Our culture is not like other European cultures where males and females shower together or bathe together.
I respect a person's right to transgender their biological identifies, but can't they wait until they are fully transgendered before they pick the bathroom of their biological choice?
Can we employ some common sense to this issue please? And aren't there more pressing issues facing the nation than this one?
But if my wife, who swims regularly in the YMCA pool and showers afterward in the women's bathroom encountered a person who may identify as a woman but is biologically still a male showering next to her, penis, testicles and all, she would find it alarming and very uncomfortable.
Isn't this the real issue here? And under those circumstances, who wouldn't feel uncomfortable? Our culture is not like other European cultures where males and females shower together or bathe together.
I respect a person's right to transgender their biological identifies, but can't they wait until they are fully transgendered before they pick the bathroom of their biological choice?
Can we employ some common sense to this issue please? And aren't there more pressing issues facing the nation than this one?
26
Maybe this is the way evolution happens. Those European countries were once as sexually repressed as we currently find ourselves to be.
4
Obviously, in this post reality world, you are suffering from the delusional that terms like male and female correspond with what sexual organs you have. The polically correct position on the subject is for everyone to carry a national gender identity card of their choosing and for all bathrooms, showers, locker rooms, dressing rooms and other places that are segregated by gender to be uni-sex or maybe neuter. Welcome to the 21 century where reality is what feels right.
1
Go home and shower. What are you doing in public showers to begin with? Don't you have a home where you can have your privacy. Do you absolutely have to use a public facility? If so, then you must comply with their rules not your personal preference. When in Rome, Pal.
Since I was in high school more than a half century ago I have never used a public shower unless forced to when I was in the military. I abhor such displays though I could care less what others do.
As for making laws for or against why aren't you more concerned with your health care, climate change, Trump as an unhinged psychotic with the nuclear codes than issues which are mindless trivialities?
DD
Manhattan
Since I was in high school more than a half century ago I have never used a public shower unless forced to when I was in the military. I abhor such displays though I could care less what others do.
As for making laws for or against why aren't you more concerned with your health care, climate change, Trump as an unhinged psychotic with the nuclear codes than issues which are mindless trivialities?
DD
Manhattan
3
Chris Cuomo opines that a little girl who doesn't want to see male body parts has something wrong with HER.
Enough already. You're not owed the right to force pre-teen girls to participate in your personal fantasies.
https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo/status/834745679394246658
Enough already. You're not owed the right to force pre-teen girls to participate in your personal fantasies.
https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo/status/834745679394246658
12
You missed his point, but I guess you meant to.
5
The allusions to Martian Niemoller's famous poem are just as appropriate here as they are for instances of discrimination against any targeted people, including the millions of undocumented who now live in fear. That is, people are being targeted simply because of who they are, and not because of what they've done.
And before any number of commenters say that the undocumented have broken the law, my response is that until they demand the Justice Department sift through all records of white visa holders who've overstayed their visa in the U.S., their concerns about the law are hypocritical at best, and racist at worst.
What this administration is really saying is that groups of people within our borders may legally be targeted simply by virtue of inherent characteristics of birth. These would of course include gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What's more, this administration's supporters are just fine with the wholesale dismantling of civil liberties not only the transgendered,but also for women and minorities. When its soon-to-be Vichy Supreme Court is installed, we will return to the era of Plessy v Ferguson, at best. I shudder to think of the worst case.
And before any number of commenters say that the undocumented have broken the law, my response is that until they demand the Justice Department sift through all records of white visa holders who've overstayed their visa in the U.S., their concerns about the law are hypocritical at best, and racist at worst.
What this administration is really saying is that groups of people within our borders may legally be targeted simply by virtue of inherent characteristics of birth. These would of course include gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What's more, this administration's supporters are just fine with the wholesale dismantling of civil liberties not only the transgendered,but also for women and minorities. When its soon-to-be Vichy Supreme Court is installed, we will return to the era of Plessy v Ferguson, at best. I shudder to think of the worst case.
1
Nahrein -- really dumb comment. There is a large difference between anyone who overstayed their visa (maybe they should mastercard instead) and someone who illegally entered. No rights have been taken from anyone --- except in the fevered brains of progressives.
As for the VIchy Supreme court reference -- really? Exactly what were you thinking when you wrote that? Or was simply another lefty brain spasm that involved no thinking (as it appears).
As for the VIchy Supreme court reference -- really? Exactly what were you thinking when you wrote that? Or was simply another lefty brain spasm that involved no thinking (as it appears).
1
newsflash to the left. transgenders still have the same exact rights NOW as they did under Obama.
4
Don't the women (especially) who in the privacy, even intimacy, of a bathroom feel very uncomfortable having opposite sex genitals in the room have any rights either?
What should be required in PUBLIC places where there are Male and Female bathrooms, a third option labeled Unisex.
Ladies especially should like that option as typically there are too few female facilities in public places (theaters, stadiums, etc.) anyway and that would double their options, at least for those who are not uncomfortable with transgenders in the room.
What should be required in PUBLIC places where there are Male and Female bathrooms, a third option labeled Unisex.
Ladies especially should like that option as typically there are too few female facilities in public places (theaters, stadiums, etc.) anyway and that would double their options, at least for those who are not uncomfortable with transgenders in the room.
4
Transgenders, GHL?
Here and everywhere you travel (assuming you do) there exist what we in America have come to call "Bathrooms".
Rooms to which people go to relieve themselves (to be polite for the ladies), wash up, refresh, and move on.
There are parts of America, Texas and New Jersey, for example, where there is confusion between terms like "Bathroom" and "Harem", but it's a localized and, outside of politics, unimportant phenomenon.
Back to the point, it's widely recognized that this word "Bathroom" denotes no gender or sex, no preference or assignment because, as in the classic of the same name, Everyone Poops. Everyone except a Freudian few prefers to do so in privacy. "Privacy" another fine word which does not necessitate consideration of sex, gender, etc.
Another point is that you, and the ladies, have all successfully navigated situations in which you used or shared facilities in common with people whose sex or gender you cannot control. And yet you're creating a national hissy fit over this. Why?
No more points, but a question. You're in Saks at Willowbrook Commons. Comfortably settled in in privacy and intimacy, ready to go. Another person enters, also seeking privacy and intimacy. A very well dressed person because this is Saks after all, and Willowbrook Commons. Or maybe your local church. Or your own home during monthly book club.
How do you know what's under that stylish wrapping? Do you want to know? How can you ever know?
Here and everywhere you travel (assuming you do) there exist what we in America have come to call "Bathrooms".
Rooms to which people go to relieve themselves (to be polite for the ladies), wash up, refresh, and move on.
There are parts of America, Texas and New Jersey, for example, where there is confusion between terms like "Bathroom" and "Harem", but it's a localized and, outside of politics, unimportant phenomenon.
Back to the point, it's widely recognized that this word "Bathroom" denotes no gender or sex, no preference or assignment because, as in the classic of the same name, Everyone Poops. Everyone except a Freudian few prefers to do so in privacy. "Privacy" another fine word which does not necessitate consideration of sex, gender, etc.
Another point is that you, and the ladies, have all successfully navigated situations in which you used or shared facilities in common with people whose sex or gender you cannot control. And yet you're creating a national hissy fit over this. Why?
No more points, but a question. You're in Saks at Willowbrook Commons. Comfortably settled in in privacy and intimacy, ready to go. Another person enters, also seeking privacy and intimacy. A very well dressed person because this is Saks after all, and Willowbrook Commons. Or maybe your local church. Or your own home during monthly book club.
How do you know what's under that stylish wrapping? Do you want to know? How can you ever know?
2
President Trump did no such thing, "the Obama guidance" can be used by any state. Federal Government already has laws that prevent discrimination based on sex.
2
"As the federal government turns its back on transgender students, there is much that local officials, school administrators and parents can do to foster inclusive and safe learning environments."
Oh, I have no doubt that trans students in liberal enclaves like Marin County will find themselves in the warm embrace of an "inclusive and safe" learning environments.
It's the trans students in the cultural battlefields of the deplorable red states that I am worried about.
Lest anyone be in doubt, the nation is in the midst of a culture war. The forces of sexual and gender orthodoxy captured the Administration, and they are not going to be magnanimous victors. They are going to exact harsh revenge for the perceived outrage of federal meddling in children's bathrooms and locker rooms.
As for Trump's so-called promises, let us resolve to call them what they are: lies.
Oh, I have no doubt that trans students in liberal enclaves like Marin County will find themselves in the warm embrace of an "inclusive and safe" learning environments.
It's the trans students in the cultural battlefields of the deplorable red states that I am worried about.
Lest anyone be in doubt, the nation is in the midst of a culture war. The forces of sexual and gender orthodoxy captured the Administration, and they are not going to be magnanimous victors. They are going to exact harsh revenge for the perceived outrage of federal meddling in children's bathrooms and locker rooms.
As for Trump's so-called promises, let us resolve to call them what they are: lies.
5
Sometimes one has to take stock of just who they really are. So, try that and see if you can get real.
1
Yes, they are all about "state's rights". Until it is about marijuana laws, where they think federal law should prevail. Or immigration, where they believe federal law should prevail. Or environmental law, where they do not believe states like California should be able to pass greener laws. And so on and so on.......
12
And, to be fair, the left engages in the same pick and choose - usually just the opposite of Trump.
1
So Trump reverses himself on transgender rights. Sad! One of my daughters lived in a university residence where the bathrooms were shared between male and female students. She had to adjust to an entirely new situation. And so she did along with all the other students in residence. And guess what, she did not experience a single awkward or uncomfortable moment with any other student. Goodwill and civility prevailed among these young students. As Attorney General, Sessions should have more important things to do than beat up on people, who through no fault of their own, are transgender. On the other hand, if you appoint a nasty, mean spirited and fear mongering person to your Cabinet, this is what you get.
7
I see the method in Trump's madness. If you compose enough insipid tweets, vomit out enough alternate facts, and trot out enough sycophantic mouthpieces, the media (and the other concerned institutions of the free world) will spend their time and energy focused correcting your lies and defending a coherent version of reality. Meanwhile, you can appoint EPA and Education cabinet members who wish to destroy the very institutions they represent. You can have Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller actively attempting to usurp the separation of powers, and you can create the necessary smokescreen to allow Russia to formalize the annexation of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Trump's motto should be "Look! Squirrel!"
12
There is a much larger issue here, well beyond transgender toilet facilities. That issue is 'Trust in the President in the USA'. Trump has stated he will defer to his Cabinet Secretaries, but on this seeming minor issue (relative to all the chaos swirling around us from the WH) Trump has gone out of his way to slap down Sec of Educ DeVos.
Let us now consider the promises made by Sec of State Tillerson and Sec of Defense Mattis in Munich this week. In light of Trump's slap-down of Sec DeVos, are we to expect our allies attending the Munich Security Conference will have any trust in the promises made by Mattis & Tillerson knowing that Trump goes back on his word so quickly?
Trump remains a serious danger to the peace and security of the USA.
Let us now consider the promises made by Sec of State Tillerson and Sec of Defense Mattis in Munich this week. In light of Trump's slap-down of Sec DeVos, are we to expect our allies attending the Munich Security Conference will have any trust in the promises made by Mattis & Tillerson knowing that Trump goes back on his word so quickly?
Trump remains a serious danger to the peace and security of the USA.
3
Transgender people, especially the young, are one of the groups most at risk for suicide. Are we to make them feel outcast? This is so unforgivable. Civil rights and protections belong to everyone. I am, by the way, sick of hearing people yap at me about this made up term "identity politics." It isn't people like me who care about what other people's identities are and the clothes, sexuality and gender that makes them feel most comfortable. Everyone is human and most people are really nice. I'm not the one trying to separate people into little labeled boxes. Let's treat all people like people, how about that?
And I wish this bathroom issue could be put to rest. As a heterosexual woman with four kids I don't care who uses what bathroom when they need to go. I wouldn't even care if a straight heterosexual man came in to use the women's bathroom because he was so desperate and the men's room was full. I don't assume that people who use bathrooms are there to peer at me or rape me or something. I assume that, like me, they are there to use the bathroom. Why is this even an issue? How about some of these Republican people get over their "cowardly me politics" and face the fact that not everyone is like them and that is totally okay.
And I wish this bathroom issue could be put to rest. As a heterosexual woman with four kids I don't care who uses what bathroom when they need to go. I wouldn't even care if a straight heterosexual man came in to use the women's bathroom because he was so desperate and the men's room was full. I don't assume that people who use bathrooms are there to peer at me or rape me or something. I assume that, like me, they are there to use the bathroom. Why is this even an issue? How about some of these Republican people get over their "cowardly me politics" and face the fact that not everyone is like them and that is totally okay.
19
They are not "at risk" of suicide. That implies that it just happens to them.
These people have serious psychological diseases and they commit suicide at 10 times the rate as everyone else because of it.
These serious psychological diseases and that is one of the reasons that sane people do not think they need to be in the bathroom with our daughters.
These people have serious psychological diseases and they commit suicide at 10 times the rate as everyone else because of it.
These serious psychological diseases and that is one of the reasons that sane people do not think they need to be in the bathroom with our daughters.
2
I saw one commenter concerned that a real issue with trans people is the issue of girls being exposed to a real man's penis in a changing room or public shower. My husband grew up in Sweden where nudity is viewed in a very practical way. A naked person is just that--- a naked person. It scars no young girls in Sweden to grow up seeing the occasional full grown male penis in saunas or other places. In fact, in my experience living there, Swedes are much more relaxed and non judgmental about the human body. It's a good thing. Naked people in and of themselves are not scary or sexual. It would do a lot of people in the USA good to get over this idea that somehow people without clothes on are automatically sexual in some way or something to protect our children from.
24
whatever floats your boat -- however -- wouldn't that be cultural appropriation? If we were to pretend we are Swedish. Or, won't that be imposing cultural norms from another society on our citizens?
3
"Personal convictions" and Donald Trump cannot coexist in the same sentence without negation.
3
and in other news, 'dog bites man',,,,,,,
5
Donald J. Trump seeks only love and admiration for himself. Now that he finds he can only get it from radical conservatives, so be it. He's addicted to CPAC applause as much as any addict can be to heroin. Trump continues his grotesque public display, showing us all just how much of a broken train wreck of a human being he truly is. Not "sad" so much as disgusting and repulsive.
2
More broken promises to follow:
1. Outsourced jobs will not come back.
2. The wall will not be built.
3. Obamacare will not be repealed.
4. Muslims will not be banned.
Promises to be kept:
1. Deregulate so that protections against corporate greed are eliminated.
2. Deregulate so that businesses may pollute with impunity.
3. Deregulate so that businesses can bribe foreign officials.
4. Deregulate so that the rich can get richer.
5. Reduce taxes on the rich.
1. Outsourced jobs will not come back.
2. The wall will not be built.
3. Obamacare will not be repealed.
4. Muslims will not be banned.
Promises to be kept:
1. Deregulate so that protections against corporate greed are eliminated.
2. Deregulate so that businesses may pollute with impunity.
3. Deregulate so that businesses can bribe foreign officials.
4. Deregulate so that the rich can get richer.
5. Reduce taxes on the rich.
10
Trump has been proven, once again, to not be a man of his word. Don't forget he also said he would release his taxes.
It's entirely appropriate that Sessions is behind this order and next he will have police officers posted at public bathrooms.
This entire administration is in the toilet and the sooner we collectively flush it, the better!
It's entirely appropriate that Sessions is behind this order and next he will have police officers posted at public bathrooms.
This entire administration is in the toilet and the sooner we collectively flush it, the better!
1
Of course, Trump broke his promise. Aside from a determination to aggrandize his wealth and his ego, he has no ethical or moral core or compass. Precisely for this reason, Trump is unpredictable on both sides of the aisle and an existential danger to this country and the world. Doubt that? Tell me what he is likely to do about North Korea? Ignore? Tweet? Attack?
1
This is so ridiculous.
1. The issue impacts such a small percentage of the population
2. We have real problems facing the country...wasting time on who urinates where is a little nuts
3. In the grand scheme of things, Trump didn't set back anyone's rights a century (like many articles make it sound)...he put things back to where they were 6 months ago.
4. Legally, this IS a States Rights issue. There's plenty to complain about in the current administration...in this case he's doing something that's clearly adhering to the constitution.
1. The issue impacts such a small percentage of the population
2. We have real problems facing the country...wasting time on who urinates where is a little nuts
3. In the grand scheme of things, Trump didn't set back anyone's rights a century (like many articles make it sound)...he put things back to where they were 6 months ago.
4. Legally, this IS a States Rights issue. There's plenty to complain about in the current administration...in this case he's doing something that's clearly adhering to the constitution.
9
Promises, promises, does anyone of sound mind think Trump Von Clownstick cares a wit about making or breaking promises. Von Clownstick is the ultimate con artist, he's the used car salesman with the highest sales volume though he constantly lies. Trump knows that lying is simply the means used to get people to close the deal. In 2016 the deal was to get a whole lot of deplorable rubes, hicks, yokels, bumpkins to vote for him. They actually believe his nonsense. Trump's support is down to 38% and sinking. There are still plenty of White Supremacists and White Americans who will not desert him. They will enter the bunker and there they will meet their Maker. Begone with all deplorable Trumpets.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
2
There are a number of issues here:
1) why should the federal gov arrogate control over public school restrooms? It is one thing to prohibit discrimination against people because of their gender identity, another to force local schools to allow minors to choose which gender they identify with and use bath & locker rooms accordingly. IMO, this should be a local issue.
2) -- how much do we know about transgender psychology? How malleable, particularly in adolescents, is gender identity?
3) -- transgender individuals account for at most less than .3% of the US population. Should their "right" to use the bath/locker room of the gender they identify with, not their biological gender, trample the rights of those who desire to have traditional privacy?
4) -- in other areas we are very protective re adolescents and their sexuality. The opinion pages excoriated Milo Yiannopolous this week for saying that the age of consent was an arbitrary construct and perhaps shouldn't be applied to sexually mature 13 year old boys. But here the Times supports the idea that a 13 year old boy who believes (on a given day) he is female can use the girl's locker and restrooms. Really.
5) -- what federal criteria are in place for a minor who hasn't had reassignment surgery to ensure they aren't simply momentarily confused about their gender? In short, how do we confirm that they really are transgender and this will be an enduring component of their identity?
1) why should the federal gov arrogate control over public school restrooms? It is one thing to prohibit discrimination against people because of their gender identity, another to force local schools to allow minors to choose which gender they identify with and use bath & locker rooms accordingly. IMO, this should be a local issue.
2) -- how much do we know about transgender psychology? How malleable, particularly in adolescents, is gender identity?
3) -- transgender individuals account for at most less than .3% of the US population. Should their "right" to use the bath/locker room of the gender they identify with, not their biological gender, trample the rights of those who desire to have traditional privacy?
4) -- in other areas we are very protective re adolescents and their sexuality. The opinion pages excoriated Milo Yiannopolous this week for saying that the age of consent was an arbitrary construct and perhaps shouldn't be applied to sexually mature 13 year old boys. But here the Times supports the idea that a 13 year old boy who believes (on a given day) he is female can use the girl's locker and restrooms. Really.
5) -- what federal criteria are in place for a minor who hasn't had reassignment surgery to ensure they aren't simply momentarily confused about their gender? In short, how do we confirm that they really are transgender and this will be an enduring component of their identity?
6
Latest headline:
"TRUMP FLIP-FLOPS ON CMPAIGN PROMISE!"
Everyone who is surprised, raise your hand.
"TRUMP FLIP-FLOPS ON CMPAIGN PROMISE!"
Everyone who is surprised, raise your hand.
2
Why would anyone be surprised when Trump does the opposite of what he says? He is a pathological liar and anyone who believes him on anything is a fool.
Trump saying he stands up for LGBT rights is about the same as declaring Mexico will be paying for the wall.
Trump saying he stands up for LGBT rights is about the same as declaring Mexico will be paying for the wall.
4
Trump, Sessions, Bannon, Miller etc., evince what I call closet fascism. They may not even realize it. Bannon even touted his economic nationalism yesterday. Nationalism is just a variant of fascism. Nazi Germany was nationalistic. The uniting force of Trump's campaign and now his White House and more important, the orders and policies coming out of the White House (note that nothing has come out of Congress this term except rubber-stamping Trump's appointments) is hatred. It is hatred of others; it is "Otherism." If you are not a white conservative Christian straight male, you are an Other. At best, you will be publicly condoned; at worst you will be vilified and deprived of your rights. Those who know history see all the signs. Scapegoats abound: Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans, Jews (more subtly, e.g., intentionally not mentioning Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day, refusing to condemn anti-Semitic acts) the entire L.G.B.T.Q. community. Trump has added a Fifth Freedom to FDR's Four; this one is the Freedom to Hate, and his followers love to hate.
I call upon the media to stop using polite euphemistic language to describe what is being done by Trump and to call it by its rightful name and condemn it at every turn. Trump, not ISIS, not immigrants, and not Others, is the real threat to our national security.
I call upon the media to stop using polite euphemistic language to describe what is being done by Trump and to call it by its rightful name and condemn it at every turn. Trump, not ISIS, not immigrants, and not Others, is the real threat to our national security.
My understanding of the science behind transgender genetic conditions is that it is extremely rare and relatively speaking affects a minute slice of our population. I don't understand why it get so much air time and attention from the Democrats. And I can see why poor whites in struggling communities who don't have these "rich white people problems" don't feel they connect with a party that feels the need to dedicate so many resources to this one (relatively unimportant) issue. How many trans kids are in those communities, where getting food on the table and paying rent is the overarching concern? I think the issue should be one resolved with a simple doctor's note. If the child has a condition, they should get to use the bathroom of their choice. And if it is problematic to allow that (for instance, in the case of a child who still has their male parts and wants to shower in the female locker room), then that child needs to ALSO understand that THEY might make OTHERS uncomfortable and likewise be considerate of that fact. Don't worry, they can handle it. Growing up with a particular condition-whether it is that one is poorer than their peers, overweight, has ears that stick out, etc. is something we all have to deal with and makes us stronger when doing so. There are no perfect people, no ideal communities. We need to teach ALL our kids how to be resilient, not ask the world to bend over backwards because we are different.
3
The media is Trump's enemy because it is trying to keep him honest.
Trump has thrown away his promised protection for the LGBT community like a used tissue. I fear for Social Security and Medicare next. Whatever made voters believe this monster's promises?
1
Would the Log Cabin Republicans comment on this please? It saddens me that so many were willfully ignorant about this grifter who they said didn't really believe the things he said during the campaign. How do you sleep at night?
2
Please, please stop referring to his "promises" as if they mean something. They don't and never have. This man is illiterate and no one with any sense has believed a word he has said for over 40 years. Zero credibility. So stop with the faux disappointment and remind yourselves that whatever he might say, it's coming from an individual who is bankrupt in every single sense of the term.
1
Rich white transgender Caitlyn Jenner does not care. Money and fame and color are power.
While the Attorney General of the Confederate States of America Jeff Sessions is doing his very best Judah P. Benjamin Confederate stalwart obsessed with sex
imitation. Too bad for him when he finds out that God is black and transgender. See Matthew 25:31-46.
As for Donnie Trump he is a heathen hedonist pagan by nature, bound for Hades at the speed of light.
While the Attorney General of the Confederate States of America Jeff Sessions is doing his very best Judah P. Benjamin Confederate stalwart obsessed with sex
imitation. Too bad for him when he finds out that God is black and transgender. See Matthew 25:31-46.
As for Donnie Trump he is a heathen hedonist pagan by nature, bound for Hades at the speed of light.
2
Jeff Sessions was the nowhere senator who saw an op in the feckless Trump and went to him early on to construct his vision of segregation and white rich boy rule which he had difficulty selling, but not to Trump. Now Sessions battle cry is "I'll enforce the law" so he gets all the clueless to jump on the bathroom bill and Sessions is in his happy mode, "ready, aim, shoot". So the question is, how does the AG pass a law passed on nothing except the lies of the tea party, evangelicals, whoever; where are the statistics the mention crimes committed by transgender in bathrooms. My republican friends think this bill is a smashing idea because they don't get the suffering the LGBT goes through, how hard to be who they know they are, and they are not out to attack anyone, they are the victims of attacks, often by their own family. Go to NPR, search 2016, story of a Pearland, evangelical mom, whose fourth child, born a boy, knew early on that he was a girl. Listen to how hard the mom tried to make him a boy until the child said, I'd rather die and go to Jesus because I can't pretend to be a person I know I'm not. A kid with the insight that Sessions and DeVos and Trump will never have. How the mother accepted the child she loved and how her evangelical family and community turned against her. Her final statement "I can't understand how those who claim to love the Lord can be so hateful".
2
SEGREGATION never dies.....it simply changes its clothes. In private, of course.
1
There's a lot more lies and broken promises in this action than the rather despicable one of subjecting "unusual" children to bullying that can, and has, become deadly. It's just cruel.
But in this statement is the flat-out LIE that Trump believes in States' Rights. It, like so many, is blatant. Because Sessions is looking at re-criminalizing marijuana use in states that has legalized it.
When states what to violate the 1st Amendment by criminalizing demonstrations and equating them with terrorism (Arizona, eg) THEN Trump is for states' rights.
When they want to establish "sanctuary cites" or gun control laws or desperately need anti-pollution laws--no states' rights!
We have the cruelest, coldest, and just plain meanest President and presidential team within living memory, and certainly since before the beginning of McKinley's administration. In fact, I cannot think of a meaner President in our history including even Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson, two of the most vindictive and vengeful Presidents ever.
But in this statement is the flat-out LIE that Trump believes in States' Rights. It, like so many, is blatant. Because Sessions is looking at re-criminalizing marijuana use in states that has legalized it.
When states what to violate the 1st Amendment by criminalizing demonstrations and equating them with terrorism (Arizona, eg) THEN Trump is for states' rights.
When they want to establish "sanctuary cites" or gun control laws or desperately need anti-pollution laws--no states' rights!
We have the cruelest, coldest, and just plain meanest President and presidential team within living memory, and certainly since before the beginning of McKinley's administration. In fact, I cannot think of a meaner President in our history including even Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson, two of the most vindictive and vengeful Presidents ever.
3
Can someone explain the theory underlying these laws? Why would a far right individual want to force a woman who has become a man to enter a woman's restroom? And why would that individual want a man who had become a woman to use a men's room? Doesn't that create chaos in the bathroom in both situations- chaos that would never exist absent the law?
4
I agree with you but we are not talking about CLARIFYING MOMENTS that "SHOULD" happen...we are talking about CLARIFYING MOMENTS that NEED to happen if this country is going to protect human rights. This NEEDS to be a CLARIFYING MOMENT for the L.G.B.T. Community and also for ALL American Women. We need to have conversations with our sisters, brothers and neighbors. WHY did so many people vote against their own self-interests and/or their brothers and sisters self-interests? Well, they did vote for an administration that repeatedly lies and manipulates. They divote for a candidate who communicated with people primarily through Twitter and/or ranting, raving Celebrity Apprentice type performances. The CLARIFYING MOMENTS can't come soon enough.
1
This is another example as to how dependent Trump is to the deplorable element in his party.From the beginning, Trump has pandered to the disenfranchised part of the Republican Party, the blue collar workers & the fascists. Sessions & Bannon represent the fascists.These are the people who gave him the Presidency & will keep him in office.His reversal on Trans Gender Americans was done to appease this ruthless bigoted element.The thing to watch is how much longer will Ivanka & Jared put up with this without speaking out.Ivamka already took it upon herself to denounce Anti Semitism, which forced her father to do the same with much less passion.This friction in Trump Plaza will only increase in the days ahead.
3
"This should be [more than] a clarifying moment for the L.G.B.T. movement." It should clarify the terrifying pattern that is part of the Steve Bannon infected Trump Administration that is now forcefully implementing its vision of white racial superiority. In just one month the new Trump racial agenda has been revealed starting with a "Muslim ban" then moving onto a Hispanic immigrant ban and now to a transgender ban. This should be a wake-up alarm to all Americans who value our historic embrace of diversity and tolerance codified in the very motto of our nation--"e pluribus unum," from many, one. Let's hope the "rule of law" once again prevails and the judiciary strikes down this latest attempt to legitimize bigotry in America.
1
He's a proven pathological liar, so why should this be any different? The President of the United States of America is a LIAR. Trust in him at your own risk! Impeach him and overthrow his administration for the well being of our Nation.
1
How about the rights of your young innocent daughters will be forced to share bathrooms with oversized men,dressed in drag and high heels or other scary perverts? Horror of horrors Stay out of my damn bathroom! Have we all gone mad?
5
He is a cruel, heartless tyrant. No empathy, no curiosity about others. Total ignorance and no desire to change that.
We can't expect any more.
When are we going to get this idiot out?
We can't expect any more.
When are we going to get this idiot out?
2
The character of Jefferson Sessions is written across his facial expressions.
Compare his expressions with pictures of Bull Connor, Lester Maddox, Herman Talmadge and especially, his sneer with George Wallace, his predecessors in old fashioned southern anger and bigotry. The old South has risen, like a festering infection that is immune to the disinfectant of sunlight.
Compare his expressions with pictures of Bull Connor, Lester Maddox, Herman Talmadge and especially, his sneer with George Wallace, his predecessors in old fashioned southern anger and bigotry. The old South has risen, like a festering infection that is immune to the disinfectant of sunlight.
2
Is there any doubt now as to why the Republicans told Warren to sit down and shut up as she attempted to read the words of Coretta Scott King into the record - again - showing up Sessions for the racist and intolerant man he really is beneath the smarmy exterior? She was right on then, and he hasn't changed his stripes since then - just tried to whitewash them - pun intended.
Trump can bring it on to us adults in groups or individually - we may be Davids but we have tools that can fight back against this warped Goliath.
But to use his newly acquired and awesome power to attack society's weakest and most vulnerable - who have no means to fight back - is truly to see an immoral, cruel, unprincipled, heartless bully - our President - at his best.
The children of "illegal" immigrants who have lived here for years while their parents worked and went to school, now cowering in basements and attics like the Hispanic version of Anne Frank, waiting to hear the sound of big uniformed government men with guns banging on the door...
The transgender kids who are at that stage when everybody feels awkward anyway, but imagine their burden, but they have been brave and are living who they are and are finally having the dignity to use the facilities of others they identify with and now facing the spectre of having to be in their dresses and make-up and using the bathroom with groups of 14 year old boys - being beaten up is a real fear - holding it until you just have to go in...
Trump can bring it on to us adults in groups or individually - we may be Davids but we have tools that can fight back against this warped Goliath.
But to use his newly acquired and awesome power to attack society's weakest and most vulnerable - who have no means to fight back - is truly to see an immoral, cruel, unprincipled, heartless bully - our President - at his best.
The children of "illegal" immigrants who have lived here for years while their parents worked and went to school, now cowering in basements and attics like the Hispanic version of Anne Frank, waiting to hear the sound of big uniformed government men with guns banging on the door...
The transgender kids who are at that stage when everybody feels awkward anyway, but imagine their burden, but they have been brave and are living who they are and are finally having the dignity to use the facilities of others they identify with and now facing the spectre of having to be in their dresses and make-up and using the bathroom with groups of 14 year old boys - being beaten up is a real fear - holding it until you just have to go in...
6
Being Different seems to scare Republicans -- transgenders, Muslims, Blacks etc. The article on transgenders says it all -- there is nothing inherently wrong with these people that should cause fear. "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." Theodore Roosevelt.
1
the editorial board has not the argument that extending title IX to Transgender is appropriate or even protects Transgender students. that is the issue in litigation.
3
You thought trump would keep any promise? hahahahaha.
1
Okay--once this gets kicked back to the states and some states decided folks must use the bathroom of their birth gender, then how will that be enforced? Kids under 16 don't have drivers' licenses or government IDs usually, so I guess a birth certificate or a new ID that children will have to carry based on their birth certificate will be next. And if citizens are charged for these IDs and perhaps cannot afford them--then what? No bathroom privileges in public places? Are we listening to ourselves? By all means, let's add another layer of unenforceable bureaucracy just to make the uneasy bigots among us happy and comfortable!
1
This farcical election of Putin's puppy will lead either to civil war or to a fascist despotism that will be worse than civil war. America has run its course, and perhaps it's time to break up into smaller nations. The demented catamites of Mammon can all gather in the Bible Belt, and the rest of us can continue to strengthen our socialist democracy, loving our neighbors as ourselves, not loving ourselves to the exclusion of all others.
1
The new Populism: More rights for Corporations, more rights for Churches, less rights for people.
3
Kaitlyn Jenner said she was a Republican who supported Trump. Milo gets firedm Breitbart. We actually have a long history of mostly gay men who supported right wing causes. Roy Cohn, J. Edgar Hoover, Ken Melman the RNC chair during W, the guy who headed the Evangelistic Association, Billy James Hargis and I'm leaving out scores more. The cognitive dissonance is amazing, yet I'm sure more will take their place.
2
A newspaper that endorsed Hillary Clinton, slamming her opponent because "his stated personal convictions are malleable"? Ok then.
2
Why is no one making a distinction between
A) someone born male who identifies as female and has had surgery and
B) someone born male who identifies as female and has NOT had surgery.
A young woman occupying a shower with an A) would not be terrified and could see that the desire to identify as female was sincere. A young woman occupying a shower with a B) could well be disturbed, even terrified and would have every right to ask, "Does this person REALLY identify as a woman?"
According to liberals both A) and B) have a right to shower with a woman. According to conservatives, neither does.
But can we please make a distinction?
A) someone born male who identifies as female and has had surgery and
B) someone born male who identifies as female and has NOT had surgery.
A young woman occupying a shower with an A) would not be terrified and could see that the desire to identify as female was sincere. A young woman occupying a shower with a B) could well be disturbed, even terrified and would have every right to ask, "Does this person REALLY identify as a woman?"
According to liberals both A) and B) have a right to shower with a woman. According to conservatives, neither does.
But can we please make a distinction?
13
Actually all of the hard core evangelical conservatives I know are fine with A. It was Obama's edict forcing B on the nation that got everyone from the Far-right to the Center up in arms.
This is a picture of Ian Harvie.
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Ian+Harvie+Transparent+Premieres+LA+P...
Ian is a female to male trans comedian.
Ian has not had surgery.
Which bathroom / changing room should Ian use? Do you think that a mom and her 8 year old daughter are going to be happy having Ian changing next to them in a locker room?
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Ian+Harvie+Transparent+Premieres+LA+P...
Ian is a female to male trans comedian.
Ian has not had surgery.
Which bathroom / changing room should Ian use? Do you think that a mom and her 8 year old daughter are going to be happy having Ian changing next to them in a locker room?
1
Does djt even remember making the promise about protecting L.G.B.T rights? As mentioned before he may be developing dementia. "Avoiding questions about Trump’s mental health is a betrayal of public trust" is a pertinent article in the Columbia Journalism Review. As stated last night on the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell this is the 'elephant in the room'.
http://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-mental-health.php
http://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-mental-health.php
5
Mary Ann -- Libs are need to learn to deal with the facts that 1) Trump is smarter than the vast majority of libs (VAST) AND 2) if there is any dementia, it is on the left where they have completely become unhinged.
2
@Ralphie ~ I surmise you didn't read the article as it is no left wing diatribe but a nuanced essay. This is my favorite excerpt"
" As cavalier as this may sound, mental illness does not need to be professionally diagnosed. We don’t need to be told by a doctor that the guy who is coughing and sneezing at the other end of the train car is probably sick, though we don’t know if it is a cold, the flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, or an allergy. All we know is that the safe thing to do is to stay away from him. When someone is compulsively lying, continuously contradicting himself, imploring the approval of people even as he is attacking them, exalting people one day and abusing and vilifying them the next, then the question of his mental state is moot. The safe thing to do is not just to stay away from him, but to keep him away from situations where he can do harm."
" As cavalier as this may sound, mental illness does not need to be professionally diagnosed. We don’t need to be told by a doctor that the guy who is coughing and sneezing at the other end of the train car is probably sick, though we don’t know if it is a cold, the flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, or an allergy. All we know is that the safe thing to do is to stay away from him. When someone is compulsively lying, continuously contradicting himself, imploring the approval of people even as he is attacking them, exalting people one day and abusing and vilifying them the next, then the question of his mental state is moot. The safe thing to do is not just to stay away from him, but to keep him away from situations where he can do harm."
1
Years ago I worked with a transgendered person who had transited from a male to a female identity within the same company. The men I worked with despised her, and I was appointed as the go-between, as her job was key to the process my department was engaged in (this was a major corporation in NYC). She was a nice person, good at her job, and helpful. However, through the process of "reorganization," her job was eliminated, and she was "downsized" out of the company. I don't know what became of her, but I do know that this experience stays with me as the real truth about how transgendered people have been and are treated unfairly. Just as the "major corporation" gave meaningless mandatory workshops about the evils of sexual harassment, and then harassed their transgender employee out of her job, so do Trump/Sessions uphold the "no bullying" clause, while removing the provisions that would allow a transgendered student to avoid being bullied. It's a sham, and they should feel shame -- but I doubt they do. However, as Americans, their shame is on us.
57
Thank you for sharing your experience. Well said.
1
They're not being treated unfairly because other people refuse to participate in their delusions. You are trying to force people to engage in the fantasies of someone else. I'm tired of being told that unless I do so I lack compassion.
6
Ok Cat in the Hat, fair enough, I won't judge you as lacking compassion. And you're right, I don't know you and I shouldn't do that.
Now In turn, I'd ask that you think about your judgements of people you don't know. I hope you will start by recognizing that you are not qualified to declare transgender people as suffering from delusions.
Now In turn, I'd ask that you think about your judgements of people you don't know. I hope you will start by recognizing that you are not qualified to declare transgender people as suffering from delusions.
1
The rational for this was to protect children from sexual predators. Are there not already laws and regulations and safeguards that prevent sexual predators from gaining entry into our nation's schools? In any event, the Department of Justice's own statistics indicate that most sexual abuse of children occurs in a residence, typically that of the victim or perpetrator. It seems the school restroom is the least likely place that a child might be assaulted.
20
MsPea - I agree, but would like to comment on your last sentence "It seems the school restroom is the least likely place that a child might be assaulted." I would think the most likely assault to take place there would be that of a young transgender girl by a group of teenage males.
1
If the Justice Department wants to propose a constitutional distinction between prohibited recreational versus permitted medical use of a prescription drug, it will be the equivalent of a constitutional nightmare.
Recreational users of legal prescription drugs have always been abundant. If Sessions can't find a basis for persecuting only some of them, then he'll be crashing into the equal protection and due process problems created by Trump's incompetent Muslim Ban.
Recreational users of legal prescription drugs have always been abundant. If Sessions can't find a basis for persecuting only some of them, then he'll be crashing into the equal protection and due process problems created by Trump's incompetent Muslim Ban.
Malleable convictions? A malignant narcissist has no convictions other than self gratification. Trump is without a core and without principle. To him, he is president of trump; I call him the wizard of trump ala the wizard of oz--there's nothing behind the curtain. And to those who suggest a private bathroom and all of the stigma associated with being different is an accommodation, think back on separate but equal and other specious practices. Some have said give him a chance or we should all want him to succeed, but until he's the president of all--and bannon et al. will make sure he's not (see CPAC)--then no fair minded person would want him to succeed. This is just one of many broken promises already; the swamp seems more polluted and toxic than ever--what broken promise is next? Medicare? Social Security? Fair tax reform? It's all about the narcissist-in-chief not the citizens.
3
Interesting situation, is it not? Trump's nominee to the Supreme Count is an "originalist" (whatever that means [in Scalia's hands, it meant license to rant against social change]) and has written passionately against use of the federal courts to validate and enunciate national social change. Yet the LGBT... cases decided by the Supreme Court have all established national policy. So the issue is not just LGBT... rights, but whether we shall be one nation or 51 separate jurisdictions or, in historical and philosophical terms, shall the Hamiltonian nationalist vision or the Brandeisian "states as laboratories" vision prevail. With regard to LGBT... rights, perhaps what we have been seeing increasingly over the last twenty years or so is an evolution from developments in several states to the judicial enunciation of national policy. So, viewed in terms of political philosophy was Hamilton a radical progressive and Brandeis a stick-in-the-mud conservative? Interesting inversion of usual categorization, is it not?
1
"Trump has demonstrated time and again that his stated personal convictions are malleable."
To say the least. Trump is a jello spine. He'll say whatever will satisfy his adulation fix from the audience he's currently speaking to, and will then instantly forget what he said as he moves on to the next audience to lie to.
I don't know which is harder to say, "President" Trump or "Attorney General" Sessions. Trump has no defined core beliefs other than his necrotic narcissism. Sessions, though, has baked-in bigotry to help him through his day. The Supreme Court will overturn this decision soon, so it makes no sense to take this action now, except to assuage the prejudice underlying the values of the Republican base. But Ted Kennedy was right in excoriating Sessions when he was up for a federal judgeship in 1986. He wasn't worthy of the position then, and he certainly isn't worthy of his position today.
It must be dawning in the minds of the committed Trump loyalists that he is a pathological liar. Somewhere in the reptilian portion of their brains, a light must be starting to glow in the realization that they have been duped by this duplicitous dunderhead who is now their President. It will be these supporters of his who will take him down, not the opposition on the left, because Trump's betrayal of them will be so fundamental in destroying their lives and aspirations.
To say the least. Trump is a jello spine. He'll say whatever will satisfy his adulation fix from the audience he's currently speaking to, and will then instantly forget what he said as he moves on to the next audience to lie to.
I don't know which is harder to say, "President" Trump or "Attorney General" Sessions. Trump has no defined core beliefs other than his necrotic narcissism. Sessions, though, has baked-in bigotry to help him through his day. The Supreme Court will overturn this decision soon, so it makes no sense to take this action now, except to assuage the prejudice underlying the values of the Republican base. But Ted Kennedy was right in excoriating Sessions when he was up for a federal judgeship in 1986. He wasn't worthy of the position then, and he certainly isn't worthy of his position today.
It must be dawning in the minds of the committed Trump loyalists that he is a pathological liar. Somewhere in the reptilian portion of their brains, a light must be starting to glow in the realization that they have been duped by this duplicitous dunderhead who is now their President. It will be these supporters of his who will take him down, not the opposition on the left, because Trump's betrayal of them will be so fundamental in destroying their lives and aspirations.
6
This is simply a diversionary tactic to keep the press -- and the American people--from the real issues, which are treason (colluding with the Russians to upset the election) and conflict of interest (Trump's business interests, which would by now would have the Republicans calling for impeachment if he were a Democrat) and the-- let's say-- unsuitable choices he is making about his cabinet, the power of Steve Bannon, and the looniness of his EPA appointee at the time at which the world is on the precipice of environmental disaster. That is not to say that this isn't awful: of course it's awful. But he knows how to press the buttons of the liberal portion of the country and divert attention.
Trump is nothing if not an able distorter of the camera lens.
Trump is nothing if not an able distorter of the camera lens.
7
How are these bathroom use laws to be enforced? Will we be required to carry our birth certificates with us when we enter public restrooms? Will restrooms be staffed by guards who will inspect our birth certificates? Will we be forced to expose our private parts to these guards?
Of course, school administrators presumably know which students are trans and which are not (never thought I'd agree with De Vos on anything, by the way!). But outside of that context, enforcement is obviously impossible.
Of course, school administrators presumably know which students are trans and which are not (never thought I'd agree with De Vos on anything, by the way!). But outside of that context, enforcement is obviously impossible.
5
The left (as usual) is making a big deal out of nothing. A fraction of a percentage of the population does not mean we change the country. Let the states handle it as it was never a federal issue to begin with. Obama basically sent letters to the states telling them what to do and that was it.
8
That is exactly what was said about slavery, about mixed marriage, gay rights, and other issues. Some states would still have slavery if it had been left to them.
The protection of children and young people should not be left to the bigots and racists to determine. The lowest common denominator would always win.
The protection of children and young people should not be left to the bigots and racists to determine. The lowest common denominator would always win.
5
So what are transgender rights? Does a transgender girl (born male) have the right to compete on a girls athletic team? Do we ALL have the right to use the bathroom/locker room/shower facility of our choice?
This is a complex issue that is not amenable to a one size fits all solution. When we ask schools to accommodate disabled students, we ask them to find a way to accommodate that particular student, not to give them a right that no other student has. We need to treat transgender students the same.
So let us agree that we will not discriminate against transgender students, or any student for that matter. Now comes the hard part: What does that mean in practice?
This is a complex issue that is not amenable to a one size fits all solution. When we ask schools to accommodate disabled students, we ask them to find a way to accommodate that particular student, not to give them a right that no other student has. We need to treat transgender students the same.
So let us agree that we will not discriminate against transgender students, or any student for that matter. Now comes the hard part: What does that mean in practice?
10
A transgender child doesn't need help using a bathroom.
Not suggesting the rightness or wrongness of this non-policy but how many people does it actually impact? (I know, all of us, but how many school-age children are trans?)
My suggestion is to keep our eyes on the hands. The more outrage we experience on a daily basis from issues like this, the more we will miss the sleight of hand that is the Trump disassembly of our entire government.
Fight the oppressors, the roots of the oppression. Winning is defeating all that they stand for, not just one or two bait issues per week.
My suggestion is to keep our eyes on the hands. The more outrage we experience on a daily basis from issues like this, the more we will miss the sleight of hand that is the Trump disassembly of our entire government.
Fight the oppressors, the roots of the oppression. Winning is defeating all that they stand for, not just one or two bait issues per week.
3
I suspicion this was just a test balloon for Mr. Sessions on his way to even more egregious bias based roll civil rights roll backs.
What we will do -- as we have always done in the face of discriminatory practices -- is break down the artificial barriers.
Women will crowd the "men's restrooms," and men will crowd the "women's restrooms."
We will just arbitrarily start going into any bathroom we feel like.
And Trump's 10,000 hires for the Deportation SS will suddenly be demoted to standing outside restrooms all day, asking for gender ID cards from every single person who has an urgent need to pee.
And that will precipitate a full-scale Revolution.
We will call it: The Golden Shower Dawn.
Women will crowd the "men's restrooms," and men will crowd the "women's restrooms."
We will just arbitrarily start going into any bathroom we feel like.
And Trump's 10,000 hires for the Deportation SS will suddenly be demoted to standing outside restrooms all day, asking for gender ID cards from every single person who has an urgent need to pee.
And that will precipitate a full-scale Revolution.
We will call it: The Golden Shower Dawn.
5
This is just the opening shot. Bullying will become mandatory in schools. The obvious superiority of the self-righteous must be flaunted. Encouraging the ostraziation of certain "types" of people seems to be a sport for some. And they cloak their inhumanity in "religious freedom." Schools are the training grounds. Hateful families want hateful schools reinforcing hateful messages about people who don't happen to be just like them. It's a shame that an entire political party, the GOP, has so eagerly followed this path.
9
One of the most arresting scenes in the movie "Hidden Figures" is about which bathroom the heroine is allowed to use: the insanity of the situation (the 'colored' bathroom is far from her office becomes clear to everyone, including her supervisor at NASA, who dismantles the "colored-only" and "white-only" system in a dramatic scene.
We're now seeing all of our strides forward to equity and respect being dismantled by a bully. And what is so weird about this one, is that I would think it would be more disruptive to those who are upset about this to have a student who presents as female in the boys' bathroom, and to have a student who presents as male in a girls' bathroom. Most of the trans students I know look like the sex they identify with: is the law proposing that schools hire genitalia proctors in the bathrooms?
We're now seeing all of our strides forward to equity and respect being dismantled by a bully. And what is so weird about this one, is that I would think it would be more disruptive to those who are upset about this to have a student who presents as female in the boys' bathroom, and to have a student who presents as male in a girls' bathroom. Most of the trans students I know look like the sex they identify with: is the law proposing that schools hire genitalia proctors in the bathrooms?
13
Personally, having had two older sisters and being the only boy, what bathroom someone uses doesn't really concern me very much. However, what about showers in gyms and similar facilities where people are in various states of undress? Would you be comfortable with your daughter changing with a biological boy? Would your daughter be comfortable with that?
3
The turning of the back is via the media toward common sense with another new minority clamoring for rights above the rest of society. The politics of divide and protest benefit no one, as conformity to societal norms is required by all to create true equality rather than endless preferential treatment.
9
President Obama violated the Administrative Procedures Act, among other statutes, to unilaterally change the culture of the United States. That is why his bathroom "guidance" was put on hold by the courts.
President Trump simply undid President Obama's illegal action.
If the issue is of such importance, Obama could have issued federal regulations of actually tried to forge a national consensus through the legislative process. The president has no authority to grant new rights.
Having chosen to bypass the tools of a Democratic society, Obama was stymied by the courts. Trump is simply fixing that defect by reverting to the status quo that existed last year.
President Trump simply undid President Obama's illegal action.
If the issue is of such importance, Obama could have issued federal regulations of actually tried to forge a national consensus through the legislative process. The president has no authority to grant new rights.
Having chosen to bypass the tools of a Democratic society, Obama was stymied by the courts. Trump is simply fixing that defect by reverting to the status quo that existed last year.
14
If human rights were to be the product of national consensus we might still have slavery, miscegenation laws, blue laws, etc. The president does not need to grant "new rights," only to recognize new applications of rights already in existence.
2
I believe the main conservative critique with this is the inappropriate use of the courts for social engineering. Policy changes such as this where there are strong feelings and legitimate conflicting points of view are best debated and decided locally. A dictate from above only cements opposition. You can't tell me that liberals do not understand that point.
23
Do you think Southern whites in the 60's didn't think their racism was legimate?
16
I think most liberals do understand that, but if we look at the history of civil rights in America, it’s frequent that the court system does enforce the rights implied by the Constitution against states (and occasionally the federal government).
I honestly believe that, without federal intervention (which has included all three branches of government at various times), there would still be some states in the United States today with separate educational systems for whites and non-whites, and in which marriage between whites and non-whites, and sex between two gay or lesbian persons, was at least technically illegal.
I honestly believe that, without federal intervention (which has included all three branches of government at various times), there would still be some states in the United States today with separate educational systems for whites and non-whites, and in which marriage between whites and non-whites, and sex between two gay or lesbian persons, was at least technically illegal.
3
What stupidity! Liberals understand it clearly, especially the need for the federal government to step in when the states start listening to bigots and ignoramuses!
And please try to get at least some of the facts right - the feds aren't the ones using the courts to set social policy, it is the poor states that want to pander to the ignorant bigots in their state.
And please try to get at least some of the facts right - the feds aren't the ones using the courts to set social policy, it is the poor states that want to pander to the ignorant bigots in their state.
1
"Mr. Trump has demonstrated time and again that his stated personal convictions are malleable." In other words when he's not near the girl he loves, he loves the girl he's near. Apologies to the lyricist and composer of "Finian's Rainbow".
Guidance, unfortunately for all involved, is not a regulation. The sad part of this controversy over bathrooms is that it ignores the larger question which is making schools a safe place for all children, including those who are transgender. I wish it could be left to the states and the local districts but it cannot. I write from personal experience with my local district when it came to handicapped children. Back in the 70s and 80s parents had to take the initiative to get their handicapped children mainstreamed. In other words they had to know who to contact, how to ask, when to threaten, and when to say okay. It's still a struggle but parents can follow in the footsteps of others instead of feeling lost.
Being transgender is not a choice. A child that is dressed as and acting as his or her gender identity is no threat to anyone. They are more likely to be threatened if found out. There is one very simple answer in schools: make all bathrooms unisex and single stall. An alternative would be to have a mix of large and small bathrooms throughout the school. Then students can pick what they are more comfortable with and schools can concentrate on education. This isn't that hard.
Guidance, unfortunately for all involved, is not a regulation. The sad part of this controversy over bathrooms is that it ignores the larger question which is making schools a safe place for all children, including those who are transgender. I wish it could be left to the states and the local districts but it cannot. I write from personal experience with my local district when it came to handicapped children. Back in the 70s and 80s parents had to take the initiative to get their handicapped children mainstreamed. In other words they had to know who to contact, how to ask, when to threaten, and when to say okay. It's still a struggle but parents can follow in the footsteps of others instead of feeling lost.
Being transgender is not a choice. A child that is dressed as and acting as his or her gender identity is no threat to anyone. They are more likely to be threatened if found out. There is one very simple answer in schools: make all bathrooms unisex and single stall. An alternative would be to have a mix of large and small bathrooms throughout the school. Then students can pick what they are more comfortable with and schools can concentrate on education. This isn't that hard.
8
"This is unsurprising. Mr. Trump has demonstrated time and again that his stated personal convictions are malleable."
Donald Trump's "personal convictions?"
Donald Trump's "personal conviction" is Donald Trump. And that is not malleable. Are you writing about some other Donald Trump? I don't know any such person.
Donald Trump's "personal convictions?"
Donald Trump's "personal conviction" is Donald Trump. And that is not malleable. Are you writing about some other Donald Trump? I don't know any such person.
3
It’s the ego of Trump that always comes first and foremost. And we keep falling for it. Whenever he is challenged about bias or prejudice from any quarter, he uniformly claims that he’s the least racist, anti-semitic, homophobic, (fill in the blank here) person that the challenger has ever met. The pattern continues as he talks about his great relationship with “the blacks”, “the L-G-B-T-Q community”, “the Jews”, the (fill in the blank here). Stop listening to his words and watch what he does. His actions are the real story.
4
Quote
A key part of that guidance advised school officials to allow transgender students to use restrooms based on their gender identity.
End Quote
A "key part"? You've got to be kidding!! Over what bathroom to use? You're double kidding right?
The likelihood of issues being brought up by going into what many if not most would consider the "wrong" bathroom is FAR greater than just using the bathroom you were born with so to speak. Look what's going on in this country over this issue as we speak. It's insane.
No one need trample on anyone's "rights"; no one needs to be abused. It's a bathroom folks. Using the one you were born with actually resolves potential problems.
We all know transgenders and any other American citizens are entitled to certain rights. Without being abused or beaten up. By demanding the right to use a bathroom based on your brain as opposed to physical reality is just plain silly.
Look, if my brain tells me I'm a race car driver that does not make me a race car driver. Even if I felt that way as a small child. I am still not a race car driver unless I go out and race cars.
Let's get real here. Reasoning such as this issue is exactly why Democrats and Republicans act like children; no, worse than children. Transgender is on the fringe whether you like it or not. They do not deserve to be abused or harmed or be denied any other rights we have as American citizens. They deserve respect like anyone else. But fighting over bathroom rights? C'mon folks.
A key part of that guidance advised school officials to allow transgender students to use restrooms based on their gender identity.
End Quote
A "key part"? You've got to be kidding!! Over what bathroom to use? You're double kidding right?
The likelihood of issues being brought up by going into what many if not most would consider the "wrong" bathroom is FAR greater than just using the bathroom you were born with so to speak. Look what's going on in this country over this issue as we speak. It's insane.
No one need trample on anyone's "rights"; no one needs to be abused. It's a bathroom folks. Using the one you were born with actually resolves potential problems.
We all know transgenders and any other American citizens are entitled to certain rights. Without being abused or beaten up. By demanding the right to use a bathroom based on your brain as opposed to physical reality is just plain silly.
Look, if my brain tells me I'm a race car driver that does not make me a race car driver. Even if I felt that way as a small child. I am still not a race car driver unless I go out and race cars.
Let's get real here. Reasoning such as this issue is exactly why Democrats and Republicans act like children; no, worse than children. Transgender is on the fringe whether you like it or not. They do not deserve to be abused or harmed or be denied any other rights we have as American citizens. They deserve respect like anyone else. But fighting over bathroom rights? C'mon folks.
11
The NYT needs to choose its battles more intelligently. Thanks, Dean!
11
Donald trump needs to focus on much more important issues than transgender bathrooms...it's just another whim for him...he's a mess...
40 years ago, Ronald Reagan as president saw that federal legal aid funding resulted in the government funding both sides of extensive litigation on issues such as gay rights. It didn't make any sense to him, so, he cut Legal Aid funding.
Now, 40 years later, in litigation between states, such as North Carolina, and the Federal government, taxpayers are again funding both sides of the litigation. The vast majority of taxpayers would prefer to keep their own money, or have their taxes used for causes with more relevancy to them. By taking the Federal government out of the middle of this issue, Trump and Sessions are essentially following in Reagan's footsteps.
Now, 40 years later, in litigation between states, such as North Carolina, and the Federal government, taxpayers are again funding both sides of the litigation. The vast majority of taxpayers would prefer to keep their own money, or have their taxes used for causes with more relevancy to them. By taking the Federal government out of the middle of this issue, Trump and Sessions are essentially following in Reagan's footsteps.
2
Is it REALLY safe for transgender children to share a locker room with children that have different genitalia than the transgender child?
If the child is bullied for using a separate locker room which calls out the fact that he/she is a transgender, then what happens when students see with their eyes that he/she is a transgender? Children can be cruel and that cruelty usually is displayed against the child who is either perceived as weak or different and I suspect it doesn't matter where that child undresses he/she may be bullied especially in communities that have difficulty accepting transgender people. Perhaps bullying and altercations would actually be more common when transgender kids are using a locker room with non transgender students. So are they really safer? (My use of he/she is not a derogation term suggestion transgender are both, rather to suggest that both boys and girls can be transgender.)
If the child is bullied for using a separate locker room which calls out the fact that he/she is a transgender, then what happens when students see with their eyes that he/she is a transgender? Children can be cruel and that cruelty usually is displayed against the child who is either perceived as weak or different and I suspect it doesn't matter where that child undresses he/she may be bullied especially in communities that have difficulty accepting transgender people. Perhaps bullying and altercations would actually be more common when transgender kids are using a locker room with non transgender students. So are they really safer? (My use of he/she is not a derogation term suggestion transgender are both, rather to suggest that both boys and girls can be transgender.)
3
Perhaps children raised to accept differences will not be as inclined to be cruel bullies.
11
Trio not take Trump 's promise or words seriously. He changes his words and minds every minute. Moreover he is not doing anything now other than playing golf, having fun at White House and Mar a logo, campaigning, and signing some executive orders without reading. Bannon is running the show. Republican leaders are hiding. We have non working congress with worst coward speaker and shrewd evil timid majority leader. Sorry America.
4
Unfortunately, this is why the Democrats lost the White House and Congress, etc… Enough already. Article after article about this, every day… enough. Nero did what while Rome burned? We get it, we understand, enough. Another protected class that can sue when they get fired for underperformance or whatever, another protected class whose rights come before ours. I am a Liberal, but I fully understand why Trump won. Enough.
26
Yeah, but I'm sure if you were transgender it would be a totally different story. Put yourself in someone else's shoes and get out of your little one percent bubble!
4
It's time for an oppositional positive agenda
All that we see now from the radical right as pushed through by Donny boy is "against against shut down'
It is well known that people respond to one of several appeals :
The strongest is what we stand for; espouse our values , and how that helps the most people in our society.
Who will step up to the challenge and start the alt Trump positivist campaign?
The one where we champion our country's great achievements like:
Making AIDS a treatable disease not a death sentence
Putting a man on the moon
Silicon Valley
The contributions of immigrants like Albert Einstein, Walter Gropius,Serge -- of Google,among myriads of others from all over the world
If not the Democrats then whom?
Unfortunately the appeal with most appeal now is one that builds on hate and fear.
A sad dead end and perhaps end (?) to the long and successful run of one of civilization's greatest experiments : American democracy.
All that we see now from the radical right as pushed through by Donny boy is "against against shut down'
It is well known that people respond to one of several appeals :
The strongest is what we stand for; espouse our values , and how that helps the most people in our society.
Who will step up to the challenge and start the alt Trump positivist campaign?
The one where we champion our country's great achievements like:
Making AIDS a treatable disease not a death sentence
Putting a man on the moon
Silicon Valley
The contributions of immigrants like Albert Einstein, Walter Gropius,Serge -- of Google,among myriads of others from all over the world
If not the Democrats then whom?
Unfortunately the appeal with most appeal now is one that builds on hate and fear.
A sad dead end and perhaps end (?) to the long and successful run of one of civilization's greatest experiments : American democracy.
4
This is simply one of what will be a long list of broken promises, most which will impact Trump's supporters and with any luck do long term serious damage to the Republican party with their self righteous bigotry, double dealing and hatred
7
I ask this because I don't know the answer.
How is it determined if a child is transgender.
Can the child simply say I am transgender.
Must there be an evaluation from a health care professional.
Must the child's school be made aware.
May a child switch back and forth from one year to the next.
There are true cases of transgender and there are other cases where a young child is just confused.
It is important that there be a consultation and evaluation by a COMPETENT health care professional.
As I have posted previously I see no problem with a trans person using a bathroom that matches his /her gender identity. There are privacy stalls and no one knows what the user's anatomy is.
Locker rooms where people wander around half dressed are a different matter.
How is it determined if a child is transgender.
Can the child simply say I am transgender.
Must there be an evaluation from a health care professional.
Must the child's school be made aware.
May a child switch back and forth from one year to the next.
There are true cases of transgender and there are other cases where a young child is just confused.
It is important that there be a consultation and evaluation by a COMPETENT health care professional.
As I have posted previously I see no problem with a trans person using a bathroom that matches his /her gender identity. There are privacy stalls and no one knows what the user's anatomy is.
Locker rooms where people wander around half dressed are a different matter.
7
States' rights, my eye. The WH also announced this week that they would be going aggressively after recreational pot use, which is against fed law, but which 8 states have legalized. So much for states' rights.
22
Our so-called Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III - named after the Confederate President and a Confederate General - now runs the Department of Injustice.
Look forward to four years of a crusty 70-year-old white racist from Alabama enforcing his personal angry biblical view of the world on the rest of country.
Jeff Sessions abhors civil rights - for blacks, gays, transgendered and people who smoke marijuana.
What other types of American does Jeff Sessions hate in private and seek to punish through the Attorney General's office ?
Jeff Sessions wishes he was in Dixie.
We need to remind him this is modern America, and not the Confederacy of his white 'Christian' dreams.
His boss, Donald Trump, is our national cipher...completely empty morally, spiritually and intellectually.
RESIST the Trumpian whitemare !
Look forward to four years of a crusty 70-year-old white racist from Alabama enforcing his personal angry biblical view of the world on the rest of country.
Jeff Sessions abhors civil rights - for blacks, gays, transgendered and people who smoke marijuana.
What other types of American does Jeff Sessions hate in private and seek to punish through the Attorney General's office ?
Jeff Sessions wishes he was in Dixie.
We need to remind him this is modern America, and not the Confederacy of his white 'Christian' dreams.
His boss, Donald Trump, is our national cipher...completely empty morally, spiritually and intellectually.
RESIST the Trumpian whitemare !
107
Trump never hid his true self, but people voted for him anyway. He promised to protect the rights of the gays and transgender community but his newly appointed Attorney General Sessions has gone ahead and reversed his position. Like many politicians Trump said anything his audiences wanted to hear to get elected. Now the fun begins with the first of his many broken promises. People are starting to realize what they have done by voting for a unscrupulous businessman. There is not a day that goes by that I don't see someone awful happening to our country by this administration. I beg that good men and women come together to change the minds of the people in Congress to do their job through check n balance.
2
For those keeping score, unrepentant Dixie racist 1, rich white lady who doesn't know what she's doing, 0.
"completely empty morally, spiritually, and intellectually".
From an atheist.
Atheists, mostly, are materialist Darwinians. No God. No morality. No spirituality.
So what is an atheist doing moralizing about "spiritually emptiness"?
("For God's sake!", I almost said...)
Atheistic intellectual, spiritual, and moral emptiness.
From an atheist.
Atheists, mostly, are materialist Darwinians. No God. No morality. No spirituality.
So what is an atheist doing moralizing about "spiritually emptiness"?
("For God's sake!", I almost said...)
Atheistic intellectual, spiritual, and moral emptiness.
Trump does not have moral convictions or beliefs. He is being lead by a short leash. If he were able to read analyze and have empathy he might have integrity enough to stand up for what is right. Those who voted for Trump understood. this. They just hated President Obama so intensely they didn't care. America is on the decline and Trump and his merry followers are leading the way.
9
From the perspective of those who put Trump in office, continuing to thump the drum for identity politics is the best possible thing the Times can do. Every shop window broken by a Clinton supporter, and every auto burned by a fellow-traveling anarchist assures more votes for the R's in state elections. Bernie's people know what needs to be done: start over at ground level and let the votes percolate up over time.
6
Regardless of ones view on this issue it is one of the first promises to be broken. The next will be a fair tax code, access to health care, women's rights, religious freedom, the wall,and those coal jobs that fake 45 said were coming back. He is, was, and will remain nothing but a bag of wind.
78
Exactly which promise did Trump break again? He simply passes the issue to the States. I have no problem with the Transgender community using either locker room or bath room. My question centers around the self definition of gender identity. Where is the science in that definition?
12
Where is the science in creationism?
7
This is like climate denial. Look it up. There is a vast scholarly and medical literature on this. People have a responsibility to inform themselves and not expect to be tutored on a one on one basis. Hint: never watch Fox and look at authentic sources.
3
The science is everywhere for those who honestly search for it.
2
To the extent that "transgender rights" exist, it must be left to the states.
Trump said, and rightly so, no federalizing of these alleged issues. You can't tie Title IX to this.
What he did was logical and common sense.
Trump said, and rightly so, no federalizing of these alleged issues. You can't tie Title IX to this.
What he did was logical and common sense.
14
So are you conceding that when he repeatedly said and tweeted during the campaign that he would protect and fight for LGBT people, that was a lie?
1
Joe: If you read the actual statement, he does protect and defend ALL people from bullying and discrimination. At the same time, he is saying this is left to the states to determine this issue, so he is protecting the 99.8% of the American people who are NOT transgender people who believe men use the men's room and women use the girls room.
1
Why would anyone believe what Donald Trump says? The 3500 previous lawsuits against him demonstrate how many times he has broken his word. The voters will judge in 2018 and 2020 whether he has made America Great Again. In the mean time shine the light on every lie and alternative fact that this administration puts forth. Next up, demolition of federal support for health care. His lies in that area are legion.
9
Great Editorial. Trump clearly has neither principles nor consistency. He is the archetypal Opportunist with a capital O.
But never fear, the cavalry is on its way.
In record time Trump has made so many enemies, and disappointed so many neutral observers, that his opponents need little more than to locate their backbones and stand up to him. His base is becoming thinner and more brittle by the day. When the end finally arrives people will wonder why it took so long.
But never fear, the cavalry is on its way.
In record time Trump has made so many enemies, and disappointed so many neutral observers, that his opponents need little more than to locate their backbones and stand up to him. His base is becoming thinner and more brittle by the day. When the end finally arrives people will wonder why it took so long.
2
A man in my building who happens to be gay and I were talking about transgender people and while he and I arec both college graduates we are having a somewhat tough time fully understanding why they are categorized along with people who are gay. The bathrooms have stalls but I do object to the lockers where everyone is nude.
8
Yet more evidence that Trump lacks anything we could recognize as values. What he believes is whatever the last person he talked to – in this case, Jeff Sessions – told him. In a person without the responsibilities of government, this is a character defect. In a president, it's a threat to all of us because it shows how easily he can be manipulated.
6
Or bought
Don't let the Times bamboozle you into thinking it believes in keeping promises. It criticizes Trump when he breaks his promises. But it also criticizes him when he keeps his promises.
13
That is exactly the poin of editorials - to comment on current events, not to act as a check on promise- keeping.
1
For example, Ian, look at the times' gay rights editorials from around 2009, promising it would only affect what consenting adults did in the privacy of their homes. Not a word about who unconsenting children would be forced to shower with in the public school locker room.
1
The editorial page is not focused on broken promises. It's purpose to comment on current events. Your comment mskes no sense.
3
Is there really any surprise that the president broke a campaign promise to protect the rights of the LGBT community? Or that his Attorney General is championing states rights, code words for nullification of individual rights under the Constitution and a justification for implementing racist and unjust policies? No, red state voters, this president is not going to keep his campaign pledges. He's throwing an entire community under the bus because now he can do that without consequences. Just wait until it's your turn, and it won't be long.
11
Sometimes it really helps to recognize statistical reality if one is very certain of one's moral high ground, without having any deity announce anything from the heavens in support of that.
A really good example of claiming the moral high ground, but, ignoring statistical reality is the Obama order forcing schools to let a human born as a boy, and, remaining anatomically a boy, but, mentally identifying as a girl, use the girls bathroom nationwide.
Here we have a rule, that claims the moral high ground, with no evidence from any deity that it is a moral high ground.
And, the vast majority of Americans are not transgender, and, either never thought much about it until the Obama order, or, actively don't agree that the moral high ground is that their daughter has to sit on the commode next to a boy standing up peeing who thinks he is a girl.
So, let's try to stay balanced. Forcing confused young adults into bathrooms that even they might not want to go into is not objectively "moral high ground".
And, it may be the wrong thing to do for the country and our people as a whole. We don't really know do we? Can anyone say God has let us all know what is appropriate here? Or, is this just a complicated issue that folks disagree on and that the Obama order found great resistance from majority?
Some just think they do know what is best for everyone.....and.....think they are "right" with no evidence at all of their moral high ground position.
A really good example of claiming the moral high ground, but, ignoring statistical reality is the Obama order forcing schools to let a human born as a boy, and, remaining anatomically a boy, but, mentally identifying as a girl, use the girls bathroom nationwide.
Here we have a rule, that claims the moral high ground, with no evidence from any deity that it is a moral high ground.
And, the vast majority of Americans are not transgender, and, either never thought much about it until the Obama order, or, actively don't agree that the moral high ground is that their daughter has to sit on the commode next to a boy standing up peeing who thinks he is a girl.
So, let's try to stay balanced. Forcing confused young adults into bathrooms that even they might not want to go into is not objectively "moral high ground".
And, it may be the wrong thing to do for the country and our people as a whole. We don't really know do we? Can anyone say God has let us all know what is appropriate here? Or, is this just a complicated issue that folks disagree on and that the Obama order found great resistance from majority?
Some just think they do know what is best for everyone.....and.....think they are "right" with no evidence at all of their moral high ground position.
8
You do not mention that the revised guidance makes it clear that school districts have an obligation to protect such students. It simply ends the federal threat of loss of funding if they do not allow a confused boy to shower with the girls.
8
Wow. Quite a morning of hate we're having here and there. So trans people are just "confused boys" with "alleged issues"? Go on.
3
Trump is just a puppet of Putin, Sessions and Bannon. I thought he would at least listen to his daughter. I cannot understand why people cannot have empathy for these people. They diserve our deepest sympathy and support not constant scrutiny.
5
What about the rights of 99% of the population to avoid being sucked into this increasingly hysterical and manipulative debate? Enough already. We are sick and tired of being made to feel guilty because a transgender person has a delicate constitution. I go to the bathroom to take a dump or have a pee. Gender (in)justice is very low on my agenda at that time. How dare transgender snowflakes make it MY problem. Or my wife and daughters' problem. It isn't - only the persistence of the liberal left media giving this nonsense airtime gives it a patina of respectability. If a transgender cannot handle their bathroom needs, how are they going to handle life? Lets get this straight [no pun intended]: we sympathise with transgender angst, BUT THERE IS A LIMIT AS TO HOW FAR YOU ALL CAN FORCE US TO CARE. Beyond that limit, you turn us off and WE STOP CARING.
This is an issue to be sorted at local level, not by statute.
This is an issue to be sorted at local level, not by statute.
16
Many of these transgendered people are CHILDREN.
Typical Trump supporter - white "Christians" who have no sympathy or concern for anyone different than them. Read the New Testament & see who Christ spent time with; read the Beatitudes (Matt. 5: 3-11). Then ask yourself who Jesus would be standing with today. I'll give you a hint - it's not Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions.
Typical Trump supporter - white "Christians" who have no sympathy or concern for anyone different than them. Read the New Testament & see who Christ spent time with; read the Beatitudes (Matt. 5: 3-11). Then ask yourself who Jesus would be standing with today. I'll give you a hint - it's not Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions.
3
Excellent article! Most of us are fed up with reading about this. The tiny percentage of people who have this problem should just deal on their own and not create a national outcry. Upending reality is ridiculous and we 99 per cent do not care about such trivia created by angry liberals who are desperate for another cause.
Dude, you should definitely add washing your hands to your bathroom activities.
2
There is a strong push by social science to equate biological sex and gender as more or less equals. Men and women have different sexual organs (plumbing) . Those with female plumbing use the women's public washrooms... While those with male plumbing use the mens washroom.
Gender refers typical male and female social characteristics and roles.
If sexual reassignment surgery has occured... Let's say a man has now replaced his male plumbing through surgery, taking female hormones, etc.. It would then make sense for that person to now use the woman's washroom.
But social scientists don't advocate for a change in washroom only after sexual reassignment surgery... They advocate that a physically normal man, who self identifies as transgendered, has the right to use the women's public washroom.
I kindly suggest social scientists who advocate a 'no strings atrached' bathroom choice have spent too much time in an academic bubble on university campus, and not enough time in the real world.
The decision on correct bathroom choice is simply wether or not you have male or female sexual anatomy... Not what gender you mind constructs.
Honestly, what is the argument for a transgendered man (with male plumbing) insistence on using the women's washroom? I suggest the rights of biological women to have a washroom free of male plumbing supercedes the request of a transgendered biological male, ALWAYS.
The end use of a public washroom is simply private waste disposal.
Gender refers typical male and female social characteristics and roles.
If sexual reassignment surgery has occured... Let's say a man has now replaced his male plumbing through surgery, taking female hormones, etc.. It would then make sense for that person to now use the woman's washroom.
But social scientists don't advocate for a change in washroom only after sexual reassignment surgery... They advocate that a physically normal man, who self identifies as transgendered, has the right to use the women's public washroom.
I kindly suggest social scientists who advocate a 'no strings atrached' bathroom choice have spent too much time in an academic bubble on university campus, and not enough time in the real world.
The decision on correct bathroom choice is simply wether or not you have male or female sexual anatomy... Not what gender you mind constructs.
Honestly, what is the argument for a transgendered man (with male plumbing) insistence on using the women's washroom? I suggest the rights of biological women to have a washroom free of male plumbing supercedes the request of a transgendered biological male, ALWAYS.
The end use of a public washroom is simply private waste disposal.
11
Baloney! Often, when the women's stall is taken in a restaurant, I'll duck into the men's room & use it.
Transgendered men & woman are already using restrooms everywhere. You just don't know it.
Transgendered men & woman are already using restrooms everywhere. You just don't know it.
5
The only thing less surprisingly than Trump's breaking a campaign promise is the fact that Betsy Vehos, who initially said that protecting students was her "moral" responsibility, decided that her morality was less important than losing her job by taking a stand against the attorney general and the president. It's all beyond sickening.
4
When there is a school shooting, teachers often die defending their students. De Vos could care less. This is a political game for her--no real concern for students or education. Typical Republican today.
1
TRANSGENDER Persons--Do they represent a threat to others? There is a need for some scientific study in order to get to the bottom of the transgender debate. Are there any recorded cases of transgender persons who have perpetrated sexual assault or abuse of others? Children or adults? I've never heard of a case in which a transgender person, pre-surgery, has attacked a person of different sexual orientation. To the contrary, transgender persons are themselves subject to much violence along with suffering depression and at times suicidality. Israeli kibbutzim had unisex bathrooms for a long time. Reports that I've read stated that, having grown up seeing each other nude, the children were not interested in having sexual relations with each other because they regarded them as siblings--brothers or sisters. The descriptions coming from kibbutzniks would suggest that people have a lot less to fear from transgender persons than they would imagine. A more widespread practice in nudity occurs routinely in Europe, where kids are taken to bathe in the nude until they are 5 years of age. That doesn't go over so well in the US. What happens is that Europeans who bathe in the nude as kids probably have fewer anxieties about their developing bodies as teens. For that matter, in a number of EU countries, public schools routinely teach about sexual relations, including contraception. The results are that there are fewer unwanted pregnancies and far lower rates of STDs.
7
What works for Europe works for Europe. I've seen co-ed restrooms there. We're talking about the United States, and what is best for us. We're not Europe, thank God.
4
At what point does the majority of voters who didn't elect this chump decide to overthrow the government? I see few other options. Every move he makes is unacceptable and antithetical to American values.
2
go ahead and try Dan. See where that gets you.
2
Appealing to common sense?
Common sense says that bathrooms are for bodily functions.
Men's bodies in one room, women's bodies in another.
It is that simple. Common sense.
Common sense says that bathrooms are for bodily functions.
Men's bodies in one room, women's bodies in another.
It is that simple. Common sense.
14
If you make it simple, then these people have nothing to dramatise. And that is the point: attention seeking behaviour.
2
Not so simple. Caitlyn Jenner used to be male. Now she identifies as female, & she takes female hormones, wears dresses, makeup & high heels. Yet in her nether regions she is still male. Do you really want Caitlyn Jenner using the men's room? If so - WHY?
Transgendered men & women are already using the restroom they identify with. You just don't know it.
Transgendered men & women are already using the restroom they identify with. You just don't know it.
4
kd: Again. Bathrooms are not places to reinforce our emotions, they are places for bodily functions.
Bruce Jenner definitely is a man, has a man's body and should use the men's restrooms. Dress and all. Better there (freaking me out) than in the women's restroom (freaking out my daughter and me).
Bruce Jenner definitely is a man, has a man's body and should use the men's restrooms. Dress and all. Better there (freaking me out) than in the women's restroom (freaking out my daughter and me).
2
What silliness. The federal government has no business in the bathroom. That anyone thinks this is a major issue is bizarre
Americans spend too much time worrying how their endless stream of "rights" are being offended rather than just using their heads and just doing the right thing - without having mommy and daddy big government tell you.
I never heard of any issue like this growing either here or in Europe. Is it a generation of whiners that has had everything handed to them looking for nee causes? Have psychiatrists been putting weird ideas in youthful heads?
Americans spend too much time worrying how their endless stream of "rights" are being offended rather than just using their heads and just doing the right thing - without having mommy and daddy big government tell you.
I never heard of any issue like this growing either here or in Europe. Is it a generation of whiners that has had everything handed to them looking for nee causes? Have psychiatrists been putting weird ideas in youthful heads?
10
Donald Trump has spent his entire business career honing the fine art of stiffing small entrepreneurs, contractors and investors. Now he has transferred those skills to "stiffing" the voters who foolishly and obtusely took him at his word.
In word and deed Donald Trump was the epitome of "fake news" long before the term was invented.
In word and deed Donald Trump was the epitome of "fake news" long before the term was invented.
6
He made a promise to leave it to the states.
In a school environment, the chilling effect of litigation threats prevents common sense administrators from intervening with students who are working things out and have an unhealthy vulnerability to self victimization and the consequent attention seeking behavior leading to sexual assault or self fulfilling prophecy. Transitional guidance from a mental health professional to develop accommodation for the psychiatric disability of gender identity disorder is incomplete because they cannot observe their patients in the real world environment. There is also the external pressure to undergo dangerous surgery with variable outcomes only to emerge as a freak and prone to even more social disability. The majority of individuals suffering from this illness eventually stabilize, but many do not and reassignment therapy is only one of several interventions. It is going to be a lot easier hearing the truth that one does not look like a man from a guidance counselor than getting bullied on the street. Time and time again, creating standing in courts leads to a toxic litigious environment worse than the problem we set out to create.
Also, I thought rescinding an illegal unilateral executive action blocked by a federal judge was supposed to be a good thing.
In a school environment, the chilling effect of litigation threats prevents common sense administrators from intervening with students who are working things out and have an unhealthy vulnerability to self victimization and the consequent attention seeking behavior leading to sexual assault or self fulfilling prophecy. Transitional guidance from a mental health professional to develop accommodation for the psychiatric disability of gender identity disorder is incomplete because they cannot observe their patients in the real world environment. There is also the external pressure to undergo dangerous surgery with variable outcomes only to emerge as a freak and prone to even more social disability. The majority of individuals suffering from this illness eventually stabilize, but many do not and reassignment therapy is only one of several interventions. It is going to be a lot easier hearing the truth that one does not look like a man from a guidance counselor than getting bullied on the street. Time and time again, creating standing in courts leads to a toxic litigious environment worse than the problem we set out to create.
Also, I thought rescinding an illegal unilateral executive action blocked by a federal judge was supposed to be a good thing.
7
Melania expressed an interest in helping to reduce and prevent bullying in schools. Maybe he just wants her to have a lot of people to work with.
6
The point of the story is that Trump lied to get elected. His other lies include Medicare and Social Security - he will claim he did not know what Republicans in Congress were doing.
3
Steve Bannon's fingerprints (and possibly Mike Pence's) are all over this, and this is indicative of what is going on in the White House. As despicable as President Trump's own ideas are, he is now revealed as a malleable tool of the alt-Right.
We haven't heard from Grover Norquist lately, but we will! Norquist opined that all the right-wing needed in the White House was someone with a pen to serve as a robotic signer for all the pent-up anti-social legislation he and his cronies are drooling to see enacted into law.
Norquist will have his festival day when the tax cuts for the rich get enacted, but in the meantime we have the terrorism against every minority in America to live through;
I pray that we will survive as a nation. Apparently Trump doesn't care how much destruction he wreaks, as long as his ego is intact.
We haven't heard from Grover Norquist lately, but we will! Norquist opined that all the right-wing needed in the White House was someone with a pen to serve as a robotic signer for all the pent-up anti-social legislation he and his cronies are drooling to see enacted into law.
Norquist will have his festival day when the tax cuts for the rich get enacted, but in the meantime we have the terrorism against every minority in America to live through;
I pray that we will survive as a nation. Apparently Trump doesn't care how much destruction he wreaks, as long as his ego is intact.
3
Trump and the deplorable Congress can help solve two problems by enacting the PENIS law (People Entering-bathrooms National Inspection Service). This would be a $70,000 per year job that requires highly trained female inspectors to sit if front of every women's bathroom in America and do a mandatory genital check before letting anyone into the women's bathroom. Next we need a new law to help out the unemployed males as well. Any suggestions?
5
Yes. Hire them as armed guards to patrol school bathrooms. Then see who the real criminals are. It won't be the children or young people. Trump is a sexual pervert who groped and spied on underage beauty queens by entering their locker rooms when they were dressing. One of his good friends was the convicted billionaire pedophile. Protecting students and young people from sexual assault is a subject he knows about from the perspective of the perv.
3
Culturally, the topic of sex and gender remains an American obsession in that puritanical perspectives seem to be all encompassing. Bathroom use or states' rights should not be the most important issues here. Why not put the welfare of those involved above all other considerations? Then through education, rational thinking and analysis, solutions will be found even as our culture plays catch up.
2
The constitution doesn't say anything about transgender rights. Indeed, it doesn't use the word transgender anywhere. The same is true for the Civil Rights Act and for Title IX. If you think transgenders need some rights not in the constitution or the law, then you should persuade Congress to pass a law and the president to sign it.
8
The Constitution also says "All men are created equal" and see how well that worked for approximately 200 years. You can't have it both ways.
1
That's actually the Declaration of independence. The constitution wants us to (among other things) secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
1
The bathroom bill is dead. The only reason the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case was to tear-up the highly-flawed directive issued by an acting attorney gone amok, making a highly-dubious connection to Title IX as basis.
That directive doesn't exist anymore, finally flushed by this administration for the toilet paper it always was. SCOTUS will return the case to the 4th circuit, who then have to do what this acting "attorney" did, use all their creativity, then some, to find a connection to Title IX. While well-aware that whatever connection they find would be pounced-upon by the Supreme Court (who by then would have Justice Gorsuch comfortably seated) to happily re-flush it down the toilet.
They won't go down that path. Bathroom protections are all set to return where they've always belonged: local communities, to accommodate case-by-case, as and when they deem fit.
Score another for Trump, and those in support, say "whoosh!", high five, cheer. Sore losers do what you've by now perfected: kick, scream, shout, rant, rave, go home exhausted. Sorry.
That directive doesn't exist anymore, finally flushed by this administration for the toilet paper it always was. SCOTUS will return the case to the 4th circuit, who then have to do what this acting "attorney" did, use all their creativity, then some, to find a connection to Title IX. While well-aware that whatever connection they find would be pounced-upon by the Supreme Court (who by then would have Justice Gorsuch comfortably seated) to happily re-flush it down the toilet.
They won't go down that path. Bathroom protections are all set to return where they've always belonged: local communities, to accommodate case-by-case, as and when they deem fit.
Score another for Trump, and those in support, say "whoosh!", high five, cheer. Sore losers do what you've by now perfected: kick, scream, shout, rant, rave, go home exhausted. Sorry.
9
And a genuine Democratic candidate would have made Mike Pence's anti-gay, anti-union, anti-worker position clear. And a genuine Democratic opposition would have pinned Mr. Sessions down about these issues in committee.
1
For the commenters who say liberals are too focused on this issue and not on jobs - and that's why you didn't vote for Clinton:
Have you figured out yet that Trump's immediate actions have been about transgender bathrooms, giving gun rights to the mentally ill, spending millions of dollars of our money on several vacations in his first month and security for his family to open new hotels and sell gun silencers, and inviting coal factories to pollute your waterways? This is what you wanted so badly? Have you realized yet you've been taken for a ride?
Have you figured out yet that Trump's immediate actions have been about transgender bathrooms, giving gun rights to the mentally ill, spending millions of dollars of our money on several vacations in his first month and security for his family to open new hotels and sell gun silencers, and inviting coal factories to pollute your waterways? This is what you wanted so badly? Have you realized yet you've been taken for a ride?
12
"I'm the best friend of the LGBT community " - "go ahead, ask the gays"...
Gays can't stand the Liar-in-Chief. He lies so frequently – daily/hourly – that this is starting to become the new normal, which is a very dangerous thing. Now he lies directly to the Gays. What's next on his evil agenda? He probably would like to repeal all marriage equality progress, despite his promise not to.
He will not be forgiven for this.
Classic GOP tactic - pick on the poor, the weak, those who need protection – because they're different and easy targets. Is it any surprise this was one of the first things - such a priority! - that Jeff Sessions need to accomplish?
The bathroom issue. The SWAMP is being filled with the slimiest ever. Congratulations Trump supporters! How's this daily fiasco workin' out for ya?...
Gays can't stand the Liar-in-Chief. He lies so frequently – daily/hourly – that this is starting to become the new normal, which is a very dangerous thing. Now he lies directly to the Gays. What's next on his evil agenda? He probably would like to repeal all marriage equality progress, despite his promise not to.
He will not be forgiven for this.
Classic GOP tactic - pick on the poor, the weak, those who need protection – because they're different and easy targets. Is it any surprise this was one of the first things - such a priority! - that Jeff Sessions need to accomplish?
The bathroom issue. The SWAMP is being filled with the slimiest ever. Congratulations Trump supporters! How's this daily fiasco workin' out for ya?...
4
With its Muslim ban and mass deportations and now a broken promise on transgender bathrooms it could be said that the Trump Administration is in the toilet.
4
Funny thing. One of his products in China that is popular is the Trump toilet.
1
Trump said he would protect us and that nobody was a better friend to LGBT people. To be clear: innocent trans children will be afraid, bullied, and ultimately some, perhaps many, will die.
If it's left to the states then surely the next step is gay marriage going to the states, then abortion rights. How much progress would we have in Alabama and Mississippi in regard to desegregation, or the vote for women, if they had gotten to decide that instead of it coming down from DC?
This is setting up legal, regionalized discrimination. We cannot have a free country if we are free and protected from discrimination in some states and not others.
Trans people are justly worried, if you're not trans and not worried you should be because this applies to you to. First they came for the immigrants, then they came for the trans people. This is just the beginning and silence is acquiescence.
If it's left to the states then surely the next step is gay marriage going to the states, then abortion rights. How much progress would we have in Alabama and Mississippi in regard to desegregation, or the vote for women, if they had gotten to decide that instead of it coming down from DC?
This is setting up legal, regionalized discrimination. We cannot have a free country if we are free and protected from discrimination in some states and not others.
Trans people are justly worried, if you're not trans and not worried you should be because this applies to you to. First they came for the immigrants, then they came for the trans people. This is just the beginning and silence is acquiescence.
89
As the Repugnants push " states rights" we will turn into 2 Americas. The blue progressive America and the red third world America. I just want to keep my tax dollars in my blue state so we don't have to live the third world lifestyle.
All the issues you mention are excluded from the enumerated powers, so all belong to the States. If you don't like that, pass an Amendment. If you don't like the way your state handles the issues, change your legislature. It's called "The Rule of Law."
Those who were deriving some small hope from the idea that Trump's daughter Ivanka would be in the room when such decisions are taken and raise her voice when it came to LGBTQ concerns ought to have taken into account the fact that she's a recent convert to Orthodox Judaism: an ultra conservative branch of the religion that holds with fundamentalist views of women and human sexuality as rigid as any found reflected Sharia law.
7
How long before the press and the US public realizes that they cannot believe anything trump says, much less any promise that he makes? How long before he reneges on his promise to protect Medicare and Social Security?
Wake up people, we are dealing with an administration lacking in any integrity or principle. One that will say whatever suits their needs at one moment and then the opposite an hour or so later if their needs change. Remember when trump tweeted horrible things about the NYT at 6 am (failing, dishonest etc) and then a few hours later at a meeting with NYT executives, praised the NYT as a national treasure or some such similar sycophantic utterance which suited his need at that moment?
Every administration stretches the truth at times. What makes this one special is the frequency with which they blatantly lie and the apparent absence of even an iota of shame or remorse. It is impossible to respect a leader whose word cannot be trusted.
Wake up people, we are dealing with an administration lacking in any integrity or principle. One that will say whatever suits their needs at one moment and then the opposite an hour or so later if their needs change. Remember when trump tweeted horrible things about the NYT at 6 am (failing, dishonest etc) and then a few hours later at a meeting with NYT executives, praised the NYT as a national treasure or some such similar sycophantic utterance which suited his need at that moment?
Every administration stretches the truth at times. What makes this one special is the frequency with which they blatantly lie and the apparent absence of even an iota of shame or remorse. It is impossible to respect a leader whose word cannot be trusted.
2
"Protecting" Social Security and Medicare has always been republican code for privatizing. How could anyone have thought otherwise.
"State's Rights" concerns has long been the beard (forgive the term) that the National GOP has used to wink at morally repugnant, and usually racist policies enacted by their brethren in like-minded local governments.
It is precisely for this reason that the creation and enforcement of Civil Rights laws have been under Federal purview for decades; local jurisdictions in the US have continually demonstrated an inability to live up to National standards.
Tossing transgender students' civil rights to the local school board is a scary departure from how our nation has protected the disenfranchised under Federal Law over the last 50+ years.
I guess the historical corollary is that we would have been better off if we allowed George Wallace to decide when his state wanted to allow African Americans to attend universities?
It is precisely for this reason that the creation and enforcement of Civil Rights laws have been under Federal purview for decades; local jurisdictions in the US have continually demonstrated an inability to live up to National standards.
Tossing transgender students' civil rights to the local school board is a scary departure from how our nation has protected the disenfranchised under Federal Law over the last 50+ years.
I guess the historical corollary is that we would have been better off if we allowed George Wallace to decide when his state wanted to allow African Americans to attend universities?
4
As a life-long Democrat, I have to agree with the assessment by some analysts that the reason Democrats lost the 2016 election is that while we thought we were doing the right thing making big issues over things like transgender bathroom rights, Trump was talking about jobs and economic concerns. So, who is the bigger audience? We missed an opportunity for smart strategy. If we had just not made it a centerpiece issue, thereby losing the huge crowd in the center who wanted to hear about jobs and economics that affect their everyday lives, we could have won the election, then with that power could have had more influence on these important but proportionally less dominant issues. While we Democrats were busy being the party of transgender bathroom rights, Trump was allowed to become the spokesman for those other concerns.
5
Didn't lose the popular vote. It's easy to say you're a Democrat. I just don't believe you.
2
The popular vote stayed home. Time to think differently.
1
The Trump doctrine is one of hate and destruction. Every executive order, every departmental edict is negative, either pandering to the worst side of America and validating racist, discriminatory views or taking the side of business over health, safety and environmental protection. I wonder if there will be a single positive, bold, uplifting act by this Administration?
3
Don't hold your breath!
i keep wondering how this directive will be enforced, that people use the bathroom they are "born to", in cases when the community does not know that the student has changed his or her gender identification from the physical one. There are privacy laws in the way.
Does anyone know?
Does anyone know?
1
Thanks for helping states' rights - I can tell you what Louisiana will do: shove them to the back of the bus and under the bus and if they can destroy them, even better. Does this mean any LGBTQ must move to a state without horribly intrenched inequality? We need the federal government to enforce this and other issues, not states to make their own determinations and judgments.
46
It was Obama who pushed normal kids to the back of the bus by forcing schools to give boys unfettered access to girls locker and shower facilities. The solution is special accommodations. The government should not force the public at large to buy into the idea that up is down, peace is war, biological male is female (i.e. sex is based on anything other than biology or at least as represented through anatomy)
3
So your plan is to overturn the enumerated powers for an issue affecting about 0.2% of the population?
1
Give President Trump against a policy that is mean-spirited and a policy that isn't, he's probably going to take the mean-spirited route.
3
When was the last time any Republican voter encountered a transgender person in any public bathroom during the past decade? Let me venture a guess..... NEVER.
Republicans define themselves by those they hate - it is their only unifying bond.
It is imperative for them to be against some group - this month it is transgender adolescents in search of a bathroom - next month it is back to gays in general, or Mexicans, or more likely the Swedish.
How petty, how trivial and malicious these Republicans are. They stand for nothing decent and useful, only against what is decent and useful.
Republicans define themselves by those they hate - it is their only unifying bond.
It is imperative for them to be against some group - this month it is transgender adolescents in search of a bathroom - next month it is back to gays in general, or Mexicans, or more likely the Swedish.
How petty, how trivial and malicious these Republicans are. They stand for nothing decent and useful, only against what is decent and useful.
7
I can hear, in my imagination as my ancestors twist and turn in their graves: "RIGHTS? RIGHTS? CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS! No go mow the lawn, and then dig the potatoes............Where did all these children's rights come from so quickly?
4
Pogo, Children don't have rights? How about labor laws? Protection from parental abuse? And oh so many other things. Of course, children have rights.
In their zeal to fight for LGBT rights, has the far Left ever stopped to ask whether a child is old enough to consent to a procedure to change his or her sexual orientation?
4
Picking on some of the most vulnerable of the kids. Just plain mean.
4
Once again the president has demonstrated that he has no credibility. He is a pathological liar.
He just threw his Secretary of Education under the bus, and has turned his back on some of society's most fragile citizens.
May Gavin and the ACLU have the last laugh.
He just threw his Secretary of Education under the bus, and has turned his back on some of society's most fragile citizens.
May Gavin and the ACLU have the last laugh.
5
Obama ordered schools to follow his policy on transgender student rights, with the threat to withhold federal funds from any schools that chose not to do so. Trump merely removed the dictatorial threat -- and left the decision up to local authorities.
6
If the Trump administration is truly committed to states' right, it will respect the decisions made by state and local governments to be "sanctuary cities" that do not assist in federal efforts to deport illegal immigrants. But Trump is already saying those localities will lose federal funding if they stand up to his administration's xenophobia.
2
President Trump is right. Protecting the rights of 0.1% = Endangering the lives of the majority.
Most Americans support him on this issue. Not because they are against LGBT. But they are concerned about the safety of the others -- especially women and children -- who are in danger from those who can use these rights to sexually abuse them.
Most Americans support him on this issue. Not because they are against LGBT. But they are concerned about the safety of the others -- especially women and children -- who are in danger from those who can use these rights to sexually abuse them.
3
Too bad that philosophy wont be translated into economic policy.
1
Trump drop kicks Civil Rights out the bathroom door so that states can smear their bigotry all over the stalls. Shame. Shame. Shame
3
This President is able to change his mind and stance so easily because he has no deep convictions, no moral core, no compassion - a straw man.
3
When Steve Bannon, as reported in an article on his appearance at a conservative conference, said of Trump's opponents that they don't get it, that they focus on issues important to small groups and ignore the ones that resonate and are important to large numbers of people, the NYT delivered the proof: a stunning three (3) opinion pieces and a news piece on a single issue of the paper; If that is not self-marginalization, then I do not know what would constitute that term. I think it is high time to drop identity politics and start focusing on issues that affect the majority of people in this country instead of turning fringe groups into central issues. This is not to say that those issues are not important for those concerned, but politics, and Democrats in particular, need to start focusing on broad, common concerns if they ever want to regain a majority in the Senate, House of Representatives and the States.
23
This is an important story because it shows the "morality" of Trump and the religious right up against reality. Like the "right-to-life" cult, the consequences of their actions contradicts their stated intentions, and reveals that their true motivations are rooted in intolerance.
4
Identity Politics roils my blood as much as the dismissal of political correctness. PC is nothing more than being considerate and respectful of others. Ever notice how the people complaining about it are people who CHOOSE to be neither???? Identity politics is no different. It's a stupid term. ALL politics are IDENTITY POLITICS. You think white, christian, people don't have Identity Politics? Look around. Those terms are used by fearful people for nothing more than dog whistles for bigotry!
18
The problem is that transgender issues are HUGE in New York City, where the Times is based, so the Times' understanding of its importance as a national issue is completely distorted. Affecting less than .5% of the population, it's a red herring for the Democrats, who seem to want to avoid the real issue: the economy.
1
Why is the NY Times giving so much column space to this issue - 5 articles today alone? Please stop making enormous issues over tiny ones; this is a tiny percent of the population. What about the millions of people out of work? What about race relations? What about inner city violence? What about abortion? Health care? For the love of God, don't you have bigger fish to fry?
The doctor declared your sex at birth, & that's what you are, regardless of what your inner thoughts about yourself happen to be. Wearing the clothes of the opposite sex does not make you that sex, nor does it grant you the right to use the women's bathroom just because you are wearing a girl's clothes, have long hair, wear makeup & a padded bra. The same goes for girls dressed as boys. Are we now going to allow these Trans girls to play on sports teams? Gee, that would really be fair, wouldn't it - a hulking boy in a girl's basketball or volleyball uniform, intimidating the opposing team's players?
The doctor declared your sex at birth, & that's what you are, regardless of what your inner thoughts about yourself happen to be. Wearing the clothes of the opposite sex does not make you that sex, nor does it grant you the right to use the women's bathroom just because you are wearing a girl's clothes, have long hair, wear makeup & a padded bra. The same goes for girls dressed as boys. Are we now going to allow these Trans girls to play on sports teams? Gee, that would really be fair, wouldn't it - a hulking boy in a girl's basketball or volleyball uniform, intimidating the opposing team's players?
5
I can promise you that transgender girls, little girls who have the courage to be themselves in spite of incessant ridicule, are much more concerned with exposing their foreign-feeling anatomy than staring, touching or molesting their peers. Their hope is to blend in, not draw attention to themselves, by being able to use the restroom of their choosing.
Which is more dangerous: a little girl with an unwanted penis in a bathroom with her peers or a little girl alone in a bathroom full of boys.
And no, a "separate but equal" bathroom is not the answer - entry into a "trans" bathroom exposes the child - who is just trying to pass for who they feel they are.
Finally, many are arguing that the good of the group supersedes the good of the individual. But, all groups are made of individuals! (Though not all not individuals are part of groups.) "Rugged individualism" is the building block of our democracy and a founding cornerstone of the American narrative.
We are all only as free as the most powerless person next to us - and, as a group, we must respect, and embrace, each person's right to be an individual.
Which is more dangerous: a little girl with an unwanted penis in a bathroom with her peers or a little girl alone in a bathroom full of boys.
And no, a "separate but equal" bathroom is not the answer - entry into a "trans" bathroom exposes the child - who is just trying to pass for who they feel they are.
Finally, many are arguing that the good of the group supersedes the good of the individual. But, all groups are made of individuals! (Though not all not individuals are part of groups.) "Rugged individualism" is the building block of our democracy and a founding cornerstone of the American narrative.
We are all only as free as the most powerless person next to us - and, as a group, we must respect, and embrace, each person's right to be an individual.
63
Girls do not have penises.
This is pretty basic stuff.
This is pretty basic stuff.
3
E2theB:
Is the child REALLY any safer in a locker room where all the other children have different genitalia? It would certainly call attention that the child is indeed different from the other children. I would think bullying of that child would be much greater in a bathroom where every other child looks different than the transgender. And especially so for the girl in a boy's locker room.
Is the child REALLY any safer in a locker room where all the other children have different genitalia? It would certainly call attention that the child is indeed different from the other children. I would think bullying of that child would be much greater in a bathroom where every other child looks different than the transgender. And especially so for the girl in a boy's locker room.
3
I have no problem with the sincere. But what about the bad actors who will use this as a free pass into locker rooms,showers, etc? Are you proposing issuing cards - or maybe they could just wear rainbow stars?
1
OK, I just want to make sure I understand this: According to Trump's adminstration and the evangelical right, It's up to states to determine transgender rights to a bathroom. All have nothing bettter to do.
So, if a transgender person lives in a state that does not allow a given bathroom, that transgender person has to travel to another state in order to relieve herself/himself in a state that that allows a transgender person to do so in a bathroom that can accomodate that person as to who she or he is. Or they can relief themselves around some corner.
Give us all a break. Of all the people to bully. Why doesn't Trump and his minions determine the best way to pay for critical infrastructure repairs, for example, instead of pick on a people in a group who ~ 40% of the time will attempt suicide.
So, if a transgender person lives in a state that does not allow a given bathroom, that transgender person has to travel to another state in order to relieve herself/himself in a state that that allows a transgender person to do so in a bathroom that can accomodate that person as to who she or he is. Or they can relief themselves around some corner.
Give us all a break. Of all the people to bully. Why doesn't Trump and his minions determine the best way to pay for critical infrastructure repairs, for example, instead of pick on a people in a group who ~ 40% of the time will attempt suicide.
70
Trump has already demonstrated he has no set values- whatever is expedient to his/Bannon/Sessions/McConnell/Miller/Ryan agendas will get top pick. Campaign promises whether transgender rights, Social Security, Medicare or jobs will fall by the wayside as time goes on. My only hope is that those who are counting on his promises will see him as the phony he is by midterm elections.
One does not choose to be gay or transgender. Certainly being straight even in today's society is a lot easier. But to deny transgender rights to an already Struggling segment of society is heartbreaking. Despite Mr. Sessions, being gay, lesbian or transgender is not a moral failing. To deny them rights is a moral failing.
One does not choose to be gay or transgender. Certainly being straight even in today's society is a lot easier. But to deny transgender rights to an already Struggling segment of society is heartbreaking. Despite Mr. Sessions, being gay, lesbian or transgender is not a moral failing. To deny them rights is a moral failing.
83
This isn't really about bathrooms. There are stalls in bathrooms and it's not that big of a deal for a lot of people.
The real issue is public changing rooms and showers. Under the law they would also be opened to any biologically male person who feels they are now female, even if they still display their intact and functioning male genitalia. Or biological females in public male showers.
Correct? And there lies the biggest issue.
So the answer would seem to be private showers and changing rooms for transgender people.
I think transgender people need to admit this is an issue and not hand wave it away saying "Oh, it's a penis. Get over it!" As I have seen in other discussions about this issue.
The real issue is public changing rooms and showers. Under the law they would also be opened to any biologically male person who feels they are now female, even if they still display their intact and functioning male genitalia. Or biological females in public male showers.
Correct? And there lies the biggest issue.
So the answer would seem to be private showers and changing rooms for transgender people.
I think transgender people need to admit this is an issue and not hand wave it away saying "Oh, it's a penis. Get over it!" As I have seen in other discussions about this issue.
48
Is it possible when we talk about "rights" that we respect everyone's? As I understand it, private bathrooms have been proposed in some schools for transgender students--and supposedly for anyone else who might feel uncomfortable in the gendered bathrooms. What I don't understand is why that accommodation is unacceptable. It is, after all, an accommodation. It is an attempt to resolve a problem in which the rights of various people are involved. I would have thought a "Thank you" would be in order as opposed to insisting that only the LGBT view of the issue. i.e., using the bathroom/changing room of one's gender identity, is acceptable. I would venture to suggest that this kind of insistence and unwillingness to make an accommodation is one of the things which moved some people to vote for Trump. Some people feel that the agendas of various groups, not just the LGBT community, are being rammed down their throats without any consideration for whatever legitimate reservations they have.
27
meh - why was sessions in such a hurry to take this issue on? The SCOTUS will deal with the issue soon enough, no? Seems to me that this was a move to feed the hungry base that wants to ram their bigoted "Christian" views down our throats. Can't provide them with jobs, take away their healthcare but, hey! give them permission to hate and they'll love you! Maybe commit murder in the middle of 5th Avenue!
2
This issue is about showers in the same way that the issue in the 1960's was about sharing a bathroom with a person of color: it's about civil rights, human rights, and equal rights. Discussion of unwanted displays of genetalia sound a bit too familiar to those of us who listened to discussions about how those Negro women were going to gang up on us, rob us, and dirty our bathrooms. The point is that we can't expect our LGBTQ citizens to be second class, and we can't treat them that way. In your scenario, a trans man or trans woman gets to "hold it" and remain unshowered. That's not a solution.
4
Just when you think the Trump administration has hit bottom in terms of both illegal missteps and illogical maneuvers, it achieves a new low. Sessions must be a total dimwit to push this bathroom issue through even over the objections of the education secretary, and Trump's deciding in his favor gets another zero to factor into his deeply submerged grade point average.
127
This is yet another demonstration that Trump cares only about himself.
1
Issues like this will do a lot to establish the Dear Leader's values (non, apparently) and the pecking order among the flying monkeys that serve at his pleasure.
For those keeping score, unrepentant Dixie racist 1, ignorant rich lady 0.
For those keeping score, unrepentant Dixie racist 1, ignorant rich lady 0.
1
What Trump and the rightwing don't get as they routinely and cynically wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism, freedom, and so called family values is that the right to live as you are and how you choose is not a State's Right to decide for some but a human right that belongs to all.
Ultimately, the very idea of State's Rights, that stretches back to the founding or our nation and was the obscenely cynical battle cry of the Old Civil War South was never about any particular right except the right to enslave others and the right to hate. It is not surprising then that it is the battle cry of both Mr. Trump, a man without morals except for the values lies, and today's Republican Party, a party built on pandering to the worst hatred of the Old Civil War South.
Ultimately, the very idea of State's Rights, that stretches back to the founding or our nation and was the obscenely cynical battle cry of the Old Civil War South was never about any particular right except the right to enslave others and the right to hate. It is not surprising then that it is the battle cry of both Mr. Trump, a man without morals except for the values lies, and today's Republican Party, a party built on pandering to the worst hatred of the Old Civil War South.
161
There seem to be two things that Democrats cannot forgive Republicans for taking away from them: their slaves and the Solid South.
2
Oh boy, talk about throwing an extremely diverse group of people into the same barrel.
I sure am happy that all Democrats are so loving to everyone and sad that all Republicans are blinded by hatred.
I sure am happy that all Democrats are so loving to everyone and sad that all Republicans are blinded by hatred.
Funny that the "Resistance," led by California, New York, and other Blue States has discovered the Tenth Amendment. Washington State is screaming States Rights to resist changes to its recreational marijuana law that is in direct violation of U.S. law.
Take your pick ... are States Rights good or bad? You don't get to choose them only when they support your viewpoint.
Take your pick ... are States Rights good or bad? You don't get to choose them only when they support your viewpoint.
Kissinger supposedly said, "The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer."
The Trump administration has reversed the order. The travel ban was the first. Fortunately, the courts knocked it down. Undaunted, the administration is proceeding with attacks on other fronts. Sad!
The Trump administration has reversed the order. The travel ban was the first. Fortunately, the courts knocked it down. Undaunted, the administration is proceeding with attacks on other fronts. Sad!
3
It would help if people understood what has happened. No law or court case tells us the rights of transgenders. Obama issued guidance that advised that his administration's policy was to protect transgenders' rights against discrimination. That was not a new law. The guidance basically said we're on your side, right or wrong. Trump is saying we take no position. In a few weeks the matter will be decided by a court and the dispute will be over. What is at issue here is what the government does for the next few weeks. In that time, I'm guessing that there might be one controversial bathroom use per day. So the lead story is about a handful of bathroom visits until the end of March. Meanwhile, countless illegal moms and dads are in hiding.
3
A kind hearted editorial such as this should, in that spirit, present the full balance of the argument at hand, instead of creating a Manichean dichotomy of good vs evil for the sake of preaching to the choir. In other words present the real reasons Sessions may well have for his actions, or that an ethical person could have in support of those actions . They are not minor, they are constitutional:
Tenth Amendment - Reserved Powers. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
~~
I fully support that kids should never be made to feel unnatural while attending school, doing right by kids is job #1 for every citizen. That is my bias and my preference. However just as we go to great lengths to educate children beyond bias, a serious op-ed should as best as possible avert interest bias when informing adults.
Tenth Amendment - Reserved Powers. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
~~
I fully support that kids should never be made to feel unnatural while attending school, doing right by kids is job #1 for every citizen. That is my bias and my preference. However just as we go to great lengths to educate children beyond bias, a serious op-ed should as best as possible avert interest bias when informing adults.
48
Is Sessions is so focused on the Tenth Amendment, why is he supposedly going to go after the marijuana legalization in some states?
Is the application of the Tenth Amendment just a matter of convenience? (Or is he and the entire Trump administration just a bunch of hypocrites.)
Is the application of the Tenth Amendment just a matter of convenience? (Or is he and the entire Trump administration just a bunch of hypocrites.)
1
"States rights" has a long sad history of being used to continue oppressing the oppressed, as a way for them to sneak around federal laws enacted for protecting these rights.
I wonder if you would make the same argument concerning slavery in 1860...
Isn't it amazing that seemingly has based his entire life on being accepted by those he feels have wrongly excluded him from his rightful place in society, would so forcefully slam the door on children struggling to merely be accepted for who they are. His campaign promise on this issue was clearly a lie.
3
Men do not have the right to enter women's and girl's bathrooms and showers.
4
If the administration believes in states' rights then where is similar respect for the ongoing process of marijuana legalization?
41
One problem I have with this is that it's an absurd misreading of Title IX; Congress had nothing of the sort in mind when it passed that legislation. Another is that, while I think it's absurd that people should get upset when a transgender student chooses a bathroom, it's clear that it does upset some people and there are less provocative ways to handle the issue, such as setting aside a separate bathroom.
God knows much remains to be done to educate the public about transgenderism. Much of the public thinks it's nothing more than a choice or affectation, indeed, the level of public knowledge on this topic reminds me of public attitudes towards homosexuality a few decades ago. Bullying is rampant and suicide attempts tragically common.
But really, the right way to do this is not through regulations that are based on a distortion of the law, or that are perceived as a threat by some members of the public.
God knows much remains to be done to educate the public about transgenderism. Much of the public thinks it's nothing more than a choice or affectation, indeed, the level of public knowledge on this topic reminds me of public attitudes towards homosexuality a few decades ago. Bullying is rampant and suicide attempts tragically common.
But really, the right way to do this is not through regulations that are based on a distortion of the law, or that are perceived as a threat by some members of the public.
10
I thought WE ALREADY HAD "separate bathrooms!!
1
"there are less provocative ways to handle the issue, such as setting aside a separate bathroom.". SCOTUS ruled unanimously many years ago that 'separate but equal' is not equal and is therefore unconstitutional.
2
Richard, the justification for this regulation was Title IX, not the equal protection clause. An attempt to apply the equal protection clause would almost certainly fail, insasmuch as the bathrooms are assigned on the basis of genital arrangements and don't discriminate against either class.
1
Tough editorial to counterpoint effectively for someone who regards ANY attempt to limit inclusivity to be wrong. But a counterpoint was necessary, and gemli wasn’t about to offer it.
The degree in real terms of trans victimization doesn’t approach that of blacks (about 12% of our population, while trans are about 0.6%). What society must do to recognize and enforce the rights of 12% of our population is dramatic – a dreadful civil war, constitutional amendments, many statutes and court rulings. It’s a different story with 0.6% of our population, when resistance is broad and deep-seated.
However, the LGBTQ community as a whole is estimated to represent 3.5%-4.5% of the U.S. population, and that’s a number that’s far harder NOT to acknowledge in efforts to protect rights.
I strongly support a FULLY inclusive America, but I also believe in sustainable progress. The issue of protecting the rights of trans children to use bathrooms not corresponding to their birth-gender is too far ahead of public acceptance to succeed now, when roughly half of our country is opposed to it. Indeed, I believe that it’s mobilizing and hardening resistance to transgenders generally.
I believe that 10-15 years hence we’ll be far more inclusive than now, based on the remarkable pace of change over the past generation. Legal challenges should proceed to keep the issue before the public and to help evolve that change, but Trump was not wrong in leaving this issue to states to resolve for now.
The degree in real terms of trans victimization doesn’t approach that of blacks (about 12% of our population, while trans are about 0.6%). What society must do to recognize and enforce the rights of 12% of our population is dramatic – a dreadful civil war, constitutional amendments, many statutes and court rulings. It’s a different story with 0.6% of our population, when resistance is broad and deep-seated.
However, the LGBTQ community as a whole is estimated to represent 3.5%-4.5% of the U.S. population, and that’s a number that’s far harder NOT to acknowledge in efforts to protect rights.
I strongly support a FULLY inclusive America, but I also believe in sustainable progress. The issue of protecting the rights of trans children to use bathrooms not corresponding to their birth-gender is too far ahead of public acceptance to succeed now, when roughly half of our country is opposed to it. Indeed, I believe that it’s mobilizing and hardening resistance to transgenders generally.
I believe that 10-15 years hence we’ll be far more inclusive than now, based on the remarkable pace of change over the past generation. Legal challenges should proceed to keep the issue before the public and to help evolve that change, but Trump was not wrong in leaving this issue to states to resolve for now.
8
In five years or so, these "students" and their "rights" will have moved on, new situations will arise and all of a sudden the clamoring students from today will be forgotten. Temporary problems do not NEED "permane" solutions........nt
LBGTQ is nowhere NEAR 4.5%.
The most generous statistics -- by very sympathetic sex researchers -- show 1.5% of the population is gay or lesbian or bisexual or the other alphabets. If you then assume (very generously!) that another 1.5% are "in the closet" -- yes even in liberal 2017! -- then that's 3% and as I said, it is being VERY generous.
Transgenders are about 0.3% -- a vanishingly tiny percentage.
Meanwhile, 99.7% of us must give up privacy and dignity in the bathroom, to appease a tiny, loud, minority group.
The most generous statistics -- by very sympathetic sex researchers -- show 1.5% of the population is gay or lesbian or bisexual or the other alphabets. If you then assume (very generously!) that another 1.5% are "in the closet" -- yes even in liberal 2017! -- then that's 3% and as I said, it is being VERY generous.
Transgenders are about 0.3% -- a vanishingly tiny percentage.
Meanwhile, 99.7% of us must give up privacy and dignity in the bathroom, to appease a tiny, loud, minority group.
3
Don't let them use the lunch counters either, we're not ready for that....smh
4
Can we have a compromise.
With pure bathrooms which have privacy stalls a person can use a private stall and do their business and no one knows what their anatomy is. I see no problem with people using a pure bathroom that matches their gender identity.
Locker rooms are different. People wander around half dressed. I can understand girls being uncomfortable seeing a person with an exposed peni$.
Have locker rooms for anatomical girls only , anatomical boys only and a unisex one that trans or anyone else could use.
Ms. Gupta went too far when she ruled this compromise violated title IX.
Do we want a reasonable compromise or a social revolution.
With pure bathrooms which have privacy stalls a person can use a private stall and do their business and no one knows what their anatomy is. I see no problem with people using a pure bathroom that matches their gender identity.
Locker rooms are different. People wander around half dressed. I can understand girls being uncomfortable seeing a person with an exposed peni$.
Have locker rooms for anatomical girls only , anatomical boys only and a unisex one that trans or anyone else could use.
Ms. Gupta went too far when she ruled this compromise violated title IX.
Do we want a reasonable compromise or a social revolution.
18
Oy, the ignorance here! I can assure you that a transgendered girl is not going to be flaunting her naked boy parts--they are deeply uncomfortable with them. Hence why they are transgendered.
5
This isn't just about bathrooms. It extends to changing rooms and gym showers.
I don't have a 13 year old daughter. But if I did, I would NOT want her sharing a changing room and a shower with a boy who wants to be a girl.
It's time the administration stopped wasting time on this, and that's exactly what Trump is doing. I don't like Trump, but he's right to take this trivial issue off the federal government's plate, AND to protect the vast majority of our nation's children.
I don't have a 13 year old daughter. But if I did, I would NOT want her sharing a changing room and a shower with a boy who wants to be a girl.
It's time the administration stopped wasting time on this, and that's exactly what Trump is doing. I don't like Trump, but he's right to take this trivial issue off the federal government's plate, AND to protect the vast majority of our nation's children.
22
The idea that transgender students are out to get your imaginary daughter or anyone else's real one is ludicrous and disingenuous. In fact, like most teenagers, trans students are principally interested in negotiating this difficult period of their lives when identity becomes of paramount importance.
In case you were wondering, the type of student likely to be trans is far from the gender stereotype for their birth sex (i.e. we're not talking about strapping football players in the girls' changing room or sultry vamps in the boys'). That's kind of the point...
Note that the flipside of your intransigence is that trans boys, who dress and act like boys, are going to be in the girls locker room, and trans girls, who dress and act like girls, are going to be in the boys'. Whatever they have in their pants, that is the bottom line. If you think this solves all problems in one fell swoop, I suspect you may be in for a shock. Or perhaps your main concern is just to protect the interests of "normal" students and leave the marginalized to fend for themselves.
In case you were wondering, the type of student likely to be trans is far from the gender stereotype for their birth sex (i.e. we're not talking about strapping football players in the girls' changing room or sultry vamps in the boys'). That's kind of the point...
Note that the flipside of your intransigence is that trans boys, who dress and act like boys, are going to be in the girls locker room, and trans girls, who dress and act like girls, are going to be in the boys'. Whatever they have in their pants, that is the bottom line. If you think this solves all problems in one fell swoop, I suspect you may be in for a shock. Or perhaps your main concern is just to protect the interests of "normal" students and leave the marginalized to fend for themselves.
75
You mean a girl who was a boy? The "trans" in transgender really needs to be changed to something more definite. Ambiguity always creates confusion, which is what I read in many people's sentiments.
1
@Hey Joe Thank you for your comment. Exactly so. I do have a teen daughter and I do not want her exposed to male genitalia in the locker room or school showers. Before someone in the commentariat tells me to get over my hate, check my privilege, deal with it and teach my daughter to do the same ["advice" I have read repeatedly in comments on various articles the NYT has run today alone re: transgender students] let me remind everyone that Title IX doesn't protect transgender students but it surely protects girls and woman.
Girls and women do not have to put up with a hostile environment created by forced accommodation of opposite sex students in areas where girls and women can reasonably]y expect privacy. For those who say that young people are okay with the diminution of privacy rights, what you really mean is that your children and children you know are okay with it. You don't speak for all children and this most definitely is not just about bathrooms.
Girls and women do not have to put up with a hostile environment created by forced accommodation of opposite sex students in areas where girls and women can reasonably]y expect privacy. For those who say that young people are okay with the diminution of privacy rights, what you really mean is that your children and children you know are okay with it. You don't speak for all children and this most definitely is not just about bathrooms.
2
The same crowd that whines about sexual predators using transgenderism as an excuse to sneak into bathrooms and molest little girls...
...is the same crowd that voted for Trump, who is on audiotape admitting to strolling unannounced into the dressing room of teenaged beauty page contestants as they were changing clothes; to grabbing women's reproductive parts; to commenting on the datability of a 10-year-old girl.
Good grief.
The objection is about hate, period, and merely answers the question of who Republicans are scapegoating this week.
...is the same crowd that voted for Trump, who is on audiotape admitting to strolling unannounced into the dressing room of teenaged beauty page contestants as they were changing clothes; to grabbing women's reproductive parts; to commenting on the datability of a 10-year-old girl.
Good grief.
The objection is about hate, period, and merely answers the question of who Republicans are scapegoating this week.
275
Excellent point, CMS--it's the same crowd and the hypocrisy is breathtaking.
2
The editorial implies that the Trump administration has placed itself on the wrong side of history with the revocation of the order protecting the rights of transgender Americans. This prediction may prove to be accurate, but the reverse could also be the case.
The conservative reaction to the decisions of the Warren court has given the right an advantage in most SCOTUS rulings over the past generation. Trump's electoral victory increases the probability that conservative dominance of the court will continue indefinitely.
The current court would probably deadlock on the transgender issue, but Gorsuch's confirmation will tilt the balance to the right again. If we want a further expansion of rights in this country, we will have to fight for it. History will not hand us victory on a silver platter.
The conservative reaction to the decisions of the Warren court has given the right an advantage in most SCOTUS rulings over the past generation. Trump's electoral victory increases the probability that conservative dominance of the court will continue indefinitely.
The current court would probably deadlock on the transgender issue, but Gorsuch's confirmation will tilt the balance to the right again. If we want a further expansion of rights in this country, we will have to fight for it. History will not hand us victory on a silver platter.
8
The rest of the Western world gets a great chuckle about the liberal fixation on toilets.
15
Wasn't it started by Republicans in North Carolina?
29
No kidding. I remember my first trip to a nightclub in Paris. There are no separate restrooms. And nobody cares. They're in there to take a needed break, and get back to the dance floor.
Yikes!
Yikes!
2
It's actually conservatives who are fixated on toilets, spinning an endless parade of bigoted horribles about how trans people using the bathroom that suits them will destroy civilization.
3
Trump's words are hollow and empty. He has no credibility. He says one thing one day and the next day does the opposite. And one would think that in his first week in office, Jeff Sessions' priorities would include investigating one of the most deplorable scandals in our nation's history - Russia's complicity in influencing the outcome of our presidential election. No, Mr. Sessions' skewed priorities focus on sniffing out transgenders.
50
Trump is, despite his bravado, is a very weak man.
46
The disproportionate attention NYT has given transgenders - 5 articles today alone - indicates to me that it's post-election promise to cover workers hurt by the loss of manufacturing jobs is an empty one.
24
Correct Nina. The NYTs is making the same mistake HRC and Obama made, worrying more about transgender bathroom rights than disenfranchised Americans out of work and heading into poverty.
16
What on earth does one thing have to do with the other? In any case, if you actually read The Times you'll know that there's been plenty of coverage given to the travails of the unemployed (including those who could be manufacturing Trump-branded merchandise had he not been outsourcing those jobs to China and Mexico).
47
@Nina
This is ONE day. And it’s an important day as once again President Trump said one thing in his campaign (“I will protect the rights of the LGBT”) to even having Peter Thiel an openly gay billionaire speak at the RNC convention and is NOW changing his mind again.
There is a difference between news articles and op-ed pieces. It is a fact that transgender students have a very high suicide rate compared to their cis-gender fellow students. This rate went down as a result of President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s edict to allow transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room they were most comfortable with.
Now I fear we will start seeing that suicide rate rise again with this unfortunate..nay idiotic decision of Sessions and Trump. I take the suicide of children very seriously.
The NYT is covering the job situation in all cities. Perhaps you don’t read the NYT every day as I do? I get both the print edition and online edition.
This is ONE day. And it’s an important day as once again President Trump said one thing in his campaign (“I will protect the rights of the LGBT”) to even having Peter Thiel an openly gay billionaire speak at the RNC convention and is NOW changing his mind again.
There is a difference between news articles and op-ed pieces. It is a fact that transgender students have a very high suicide rate compared to their cis-gender fellow students. This rate went down as a result of President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s edict to allow transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room they were most comfortable with.
Now I fear we will start seeing that suicide rate rise again with this unfortunate..nay idiotic decision of Sessions and Trump. I take the suicide of children very seriously.
The NYT is covering the job situation in all cities. Perhaps you don’t read the NYT every day as I do? I get both the print edition and online edition.
4
"his stated personal convictions are malleable."
Who knows where to start parsing this odd constructions. Stated? Personal? Convictions? Malleable? The man lies. The man lies like a carnival barker, and that's insulting a carnival barker.
Who knows where to start parsing this odd constructions. Stated? Personal? Convictions? Malleable? The man lies. The man lies like a carnival barker, and that's insulting a carnival barker.
99
In deciding this question about allowing Transgender kids to use the bathroom of the sex they identified with, President trump had several options:
1) Allow these kids to use the bathroom of their choice because it's what they identify with and are comfortable with and best for their mental health.
2) Make a callous and calculated decision and talk about "states rights" and allow discrimination against these kids, seeing this as read meat for his base and letting him to points with them and better his position.
Based on what's the morally right thing to do, and which decision is based on self-interest and getting a better deal for himself, President Trump made the choice he always makes, profit over principle.
1) Allow these kids to use the bathroom of their choice because it's what they identify with and are comfortable with and best for their mental health.
2) Make a callous and calculated decision and talk about "states rights" and allow discrimination against these kids, seeing this as read meat for his base and letting him to points with them and better his position.
Based on what's the morally right thing to do, and which decision is based on self-interest and getting a better deal for himself, President Trump made the choice he always makes, profit over principle.
29
But then there are some who ask, what's in the best mental health interest of the other kids in the bathroom, as well. Whenever you look at any issue from only one side, it always appears more straightforward.
15
The kids might not care one way or another. It's their bigoted, or ill-informed, or frightened parents who make all the fuss--inculcating their own intolerance into at least a (hopefully shrinking) portion of the next generation.
5
There was a time when parents would say that their white children would find it distressing to share a bathroom, drinking fountain, or bus seat with a black child. Was that right? Was it in the best interest of their mental health to defend those ideas? Education is key, and our children may have clearer ideas on these subjects than you think if we do not instill our own prejudices first...
84
Won't be his first/last broken promise. He's not stable. Don't we know this by now? Mexico, Muslims, McCain, Megyn, the list as they say is endless. Calling Senator Warren Pocahontas??? Archie Bunker lives!!! Lest we forget Trump could literally shoot someone on 5th avenue and...
Suffice to say as long as the Earth is still standing 2020 his Presidency will be considered outstanding.
Suffice to say as long as the Earth is still standing 2020 his Presidency will be considered outstanding.
9
What promise did he break? The times is lying. The new guidance SAYS that school districts must protect the transgender. It's just that they are free to conclude that such protection does not mean a boy dressed as a girl gets to shower with the girls.
1
It would seem more desirable for the federal government to turn its back on transgender students, a very small minority, than on the backs of millions of concerned parents who do not wish their daughters showering and sharing bathrooms with men who think that they are women and men who would pretend that they are transgender in order to get their kicks.
14
Totally agree. This is about the greatest good for the greatest number. The tail doesn't wag the dog.
10
Non-transgendered do not have the same rights as transgendered. This remarkable statement has been made by many. It's kind of affirmative bathroom action. I myself think that this idea is insane, but some transgender promoters hold it.
9
@Aaron
I would bet ANYTHING that you had transgender folks share bathrooms with you your entire life and you never knew it.
Transgender folks do NOT “pretend” anything! To “get their kicks?”
These are the same ridiculous comments that people used to say about homosexuals--whether gay men or lesbian women. Just as ridiculous now as it was 40 years ago.
I would bet ANYTHING that you had transgender folks share bathrooms with you your entire life and you never knew it.
Transgender folks do NOT “pretend” anything! To “get their kicks?”
These are the same ridiculous comments that people used to say about homosexuals--whether gay men or lesbian women. Just as ridiculous now as it was 40 years ago.
6
A few years ago, there was a movement to pass non-discrimination laws in many cities. Phoenix was one of the first to sign on. Our law has never been used to help anybody. But it stirred up anti-transgender kooks. Nobody cared about bathrooms until someone woke up the kooks. The only accomplishment of the equal rights advocates was to help deprive transgenders of their rights. MLK and the suffragettes were politically astute and accomplished much. The equal rights champions were amateurs and did more harm than good. That is a fact, beyond debate. The struggle for equal rights should not have been entrusted to well meaning incompetents.
6
@Michjas
I have NO idea what you just said?
Are you saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 was “entrusted to well meaning incompetents?” It seemed to do a pretty good job at dismantling Jim Crow laws in the South. Same with the Voting Rights Act.
Title IX was brought and passed that allowed EQUALITY for women in college athletics. That went very well.
I don’t understand what you are saying? We women were once kept out of law, medical, and MBA programs--now we compromise over 50% of the students in these programs.
There are competent people working everywhere to provide equal rights...but it took just two antediluvian cis-gender men to undo everything the rest of us had worked for.
I have NO idea what you just said?
Are you saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 was “entrusted to well meaning incompetents?” It seemed to do a pretty good job at dismantling Jim Crow laws in the South. Same with the Voting Rights Act.
Title IX was brought and passed that allowed EQUALITY for women in college athletics. That went very well.
I don’t understand what you are saying? We women were once kept out of law, medical, and MBA programs--now we compromise over 50% of the students in these programs.
There are competent people working everywhere to provide equal rights...but it took just two antediluvian cis-gender men to undo everything the rest of us had worked for.
5
Michjas, I'm puzzled by your comments. You are stating that your opinion is "a fact beyond debate." Your opinion "the equal right champions did more harm than good" is based on anecdotal evidence at best. You have the right to your opinion but declaring it a fact beyond debate isn't going to persuade anybody.
My opinion, needless to say, is that you can't declare all equal right champions " "incompetents." It is also my opinion that non-discrimination laws do a world of good. And -- maybe this is one area where we do agree ? -- that it is better when they are passed at the federal rather than state and city level. That's one reason why I object to Trump kicking this back to the states.
I fully support non-discrimination laws that protect transgender adults and children; including this specific issue. And I know for a fact that I'm not incompetent :-)
My opinion, needless to say, is that you can't declare all equal right champions " "incompetents." It is also my opinion that non-discrimination laws do a world of good. And -- maybe this is one area where we do agree ? -- that it is better when they are passed at the federal rather than state and city level. That's one reason why I object to Trump kicking this back to the states.
I fully support non-discrimination laws that protect transgender adults and children; including this specific issue. And I know for a fact that I'm not incompetent :-)
4
I stand with my LBGT brothers and sisters. Be in no doubt, however, that this move is an assault on the liberty and right to self-determination of EVERY American. Sessions et al know perfectly well that such absurd restrictions on where one goes to the bathroom (!) could only be enforced by unconstitutionally invasive and intrusive constant monitoring of the medical records, associations, and day to day activities of ordinary citizens.
27
Breaking promises is what trump does. The voting public was lied to from the start of his campaign.
There will be no "wall"
Mexico is not paying for anything even if there is a wall
The repeal and replace will be MORE expensive (without some form of mandate or massive government subsidies it is an actuarial fact)
The repeal and replace will cover less people (see above)
There is no audit and he has no intention and never did to share his taxes
His ongoing lie that he had no ties indirect or otherwise to Russia is now laughable (think manafort, tillerson and flynn)
The lesson learned here is that the us voter needs to understand what they are actually voting for. C'mon 2018 midterms!
There will be no "wall"
Mexico is not paying for anything even if there is a wall
The repeal and replace will be MORE expensive (without some form of mandate or massive government subsidies it is an actuarial fact)
The repeal and replace will cover less people (see above)
There is no audit and he has no intention and never did to share his taxes
His ongoing lie that he had no ties indirect or otherwise to Russia is now laughable (think manafort, tillerson and flynn)
The lesson learned here is that the us voter needs to understand what they are actually voting for. C'mon 2018 midterms!
53
Donald Trump has no convictions or beliefs except that he has special privileges which let him violate ethics and decency. He has shown this all his life, whether by stiffing contractors, scamming victims of Trump University, or groping women. He has neither compassion nor empathy. Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions were, and are, the moving spirits of this regime, with Steve Miller, the gimlet-eyed simpering protege of Sessions as a nasty front-man. Together they conceived the wrong-headed ban order on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump will make gestures to show he is truly caring, and try to throw up a smoke-screen of words, as will his spokespeople, while causing genuine harm and reversing recent advances. This is a lying, hypocritical, and mean administration.
56
This is an issue which affects the tiniest minority of Americans. I am not sure Obama made the right choice in an election year, given the extreme division in our country. That said, he did it, and this community was happy. Trump made the statement that "people should use the bathroom they are comfortable in," which is an appropriator laissez-faire statement. He said he would support Obama in this matter. Now he has not. Had trump been willing to throw even one bone to the liberals in this country, this would have been a good one. Topic over. But this was a strategic shift-- dems will go all in on this marginal issue, and he will be able to deflect attention from the many, many more destructive steps he is taking. He never was a "friend" to this community; this man is without friendship in his life. I feel so bad for the trans kids and their families; I feel even worse for all of us who will have to suffer from this so-called president.
28
Are the president and his minions oafs? Are they just plain stupid? I cannot for the life of me understand why they would want a trans boy, who many or most persons using the restroom don't know is trans, to walk into a girls' restroom and thus likely cause a stir when the girls see a boy in their private space; and likewise trans girl in a boys restroom. It makes no logical sense to me.
50
"Are the president and his minions oafs?" Yes, he took the oaf of office.
3
Mr. Trump shows me no signs of having anything but a very small range of personal convictions and the primary one is to always do what is best for him personally. He frequently screws that up by not being able to do any self-reflection.
15
Fake Leadership!
11
The worst fears around the Sessions appointment as the AG are now playing out. The Editors are right in pointing out that Sessions remains a politician, not someone to uphold justice. His first act in office is to push through an item of high priority to the Republicans. The notion that protection from discrimination should be left to the states or local authorities is ludicrous, and will not hold up in any judicial challenge. What is most worrisome is that this may be a quid pro quo in exchange for Sessions' obstruction of any attempt to investigate Trump's collusion with the Russians, or exploitation of the office for personal gains.
18
In point of fact, there is no law which supports the "rights" of transgender to do this stuff. Sessions is fulfilling his oath to uphold the law. Since there is no law to uphold, he serves the country best by stopping special privileges.
1
"States' rights" is the smokescreen approach that Jeff Sessions put forward in his career when he had no real counter-point to those pesky civil rights which got in the way of his agenda. Diminishing the federal government as a matter of principle is a lame way of defending the indefensible.
And "states' rights" should be given no more weight now, when the right has politicized bathroom use, than in any other context. Discrimination is discrimination, period. The far-right is chipping away at LBGT rights one dehumanizing law at a time. And the far-right has found a useful tool in Donald Trump.
And "states' rights" should be given no more weight now, when the right has politicized bathroom use, than in any other context. Discrimination is discrimination, period. The far-right is chipping away at LBGT rights one dehumanizing law at a time. And the far-right has found a useful tool in Donald Trump.
21
The fight for what our country stands for is on, no doubt about it. Trumps position on protecting transgenders and the LGBT community hasn’t changed; he has no position on it or anything else for that matter except his own glorification. It’s the Bannon’s, the Sessions, and the like. And they have one thing in common, “white man rule”.
But I must say they’re in for a battle. The Progressive Democrats are already in battle dress with attending town hall meetings and blasting away at their Republican Reps about the ACA. It’s really been a positive month or so for the Democrats. They’re coalescing around a platform of total resistance to this President and his manipulators.
Time will tell if the Democrats are successful, but I am hopeful. They sure came out of the starting gate with a bang!
But I must say they’re in for a battle. The Progressive Democrats are already in battle dress with attending town hall meetings and blasting away at their Republican Reps about the ACA. It’s really been a positive month or so for the Democrats. They’re coalescing around a platform of total resistance to this President and his manipulators.
Time will tell if the Democrats are successful, but I am hopeful. They sure came out of the starting gate with a bang!
11
'Sean Spicer, justified revoking the transgender school guidance by saying Mr. Trump is a “firm believer in states’ rights.”'
In the same news conference Spicer defended the primacy of the federal government regarding recreational marijuana. Hypocrites.
In the same news conference Spicer defended the primacy of the federal government regarding recreational marijuana. Hypocrites.
45
Trump has "personal convictions?" Would that be for fraud? Or racial discrimination? Or for just being a boor?
He certainly doesn't seem to have personal convictions in terms of something he holds as a bedrock belief. With the possible exception of him getting richer and his name being displayed on gold-gilded lights....
He certainly doesn't seem to have personal convictions in terms of something he holds as a bedrock belief. With the possible exception of him getting richer and his name being displayed on gold-gilded lights....
13
The Trump administration correctly rescinded the Obama administration's "guidance" to the Dept. of Education because federal law, specifically Title IX, does not confer rights on transgender students-at least not without a legislative amendment saying so or a SCOTUS case legislating from the bench.
The Obama administration tried to use Title IX to establish civil rights coverage for transgender students without attempting the heavy lift of amending Title IX to cover transgender students. Title IX was written in 1972 and did not contemplate its application to transgender students. Title IX was and is predicated on opposition to sex based discrimination.
The implications of amending Title IX to include transgender students would undercut biological women. Do most women want to see athletic scholarships for women going instead to young men who say they are women? Do most women want their daughters to try out for the women's swimming or track team and find that multiple spots and all chances at records have been filled by men calling themselves women? If Title IX means that any man calling himself a woman is indeed a woman and entitled to all the protections of a woman, then what does being a woman mean when it comes to campus athletics and other areas wherein past systemic discrimination has afforded present opportunities? This is the coming clash of rights.
The Obama administration tried to use Title IX to establish civil rights coverage for transgender students without attempting the heavy lift of amending Title IX to cover transgender students. Title IX was written in 1972 and did not contemplate its application to transgender students. Title IX was and is predicated on opposition to sex based discrimination.
The implications of amending Title IX to include transgender students would undercut biological women. Do most women want to see athletic scholarships for women going instead to young men who say they are women? Do most women want their daughters to try out for the women's swimming or track team and find that multiple spots and all chances at records have been filled by men calling themselves women? If Title IX means that any man calling himself a woman is indeed a woman and entitled to all the protections of a woman, then what does being a woman mean when it comes to campus athletics and other areas wherein past systemic discrimination has afforded present opportunities? This is the coming clash of rights.
13
Katie. You are being disingenuous in implying that that is involved in the disagreement over Title IX.
Already, genetic males are excluded from Olympic (at any rate) participation as females. Presumably transsexual women (born males) will also be excluded, on the same grounds. That would be nothing new, and has not much relevance to the dispute about bathrooms.
But to say that transsexuality is completely unconnected to the issue of sex-based discrimination is logically weak.
Already, genetic males are excluded from Olympic (at any rate) participation as females. Presumably transsexual women (born males) will also be excluded, on the same grounds. That would be nothing new, and has not much relevance to the dispute about bathrooms.
But to say that transsexuality is completely unconnected to the issue of sex-based discrimination is logically weak.
1
Donald cares about nobody but himself. And 'himself' is furious that his popularity ratings stink. Headlines keep announcing his incompetence, inability to attract and keep staff, and constant lies, and he's being investigated for illegal activities by his own government.
Meanwhile, Obama's ratings are high and he's enjoying life.
So how is Little Donald coping? By destroying everything Obama created. It looked like he was powered by greed and ego, but hatred, stoked by his new very best friend ever Steve Bannon, has warped what was left of his rational mind.
We've gotta get rid of this psycho loser.
Meanwhile, Obama's ratings are high and he's enjoying life.
So how is Little Donald coping? By destroying everything Obama created. It looked like he was powered by greed and ego, but hatred, stoked by his new very best friend ever Steve Bannon, has warped what was left of his rational mind.
We've gotta get rid of this psycho loser.
31
This administration does not know the difference between inalienable rights and those privileges that are given by those in absolute power. The Absolute Power in the US resides with the Constitution and the Electorate, not with the "president-come-lately."
Once freedom is given, it can never be taken back- at least, not without a major and a bloody war. Trump does not know that yet, but he will. For we, Americans, will fight for our freedom and we will never give it up. That's just who we are and it's who we have been for hundreds of years. It's something we share with our Native American Sisters and Brothers.
Once freedom is given, it can never be taken back- at least, not without a major and a bloody war. Trump does not know that yet, but he will. For we, Americans, will fight for our freedom and we will never give it up. That's just who we are and it's who we have been for hundreds of years. It's something we share with our Native American Sisters and Brothers.
9
What are you talking about? This isn't a law that's been overturned or a freedom taken away. This was a "Dear Colleague" guidance letter [not law or even a regulation] sent to school districts by the Obama Dept. of Education. The guidance letter purported to be based on Title IX but had no law change and/or judicial ruling behind it so it was just a shot in the dark by an administration hopeful that the mere threat of losing funds would prevent school districts from challenging the Obama administration's right to change the clear meaning of Title IX (preventing sex based discrimination.)
The so-called protections outlined in the letter were immediately stayed from being implemented until the issue could be litigated. The only loss suffered is a prospective one; not a real one. Stop the hysteria and, dare I say it, the fake news. As for your predictions of war over this issue effecting .003 percent of the nation, uh, no, I don't think so.
The so-called protections outlined in the letter were immediately stayed from being implemented until the issue could be litigated. The only loss suffered is a prospective one; not a real one. Stop the hysteria and, dare I say it, the fake news. As for your predictions of war over this issue effecting .003 percent of the nation, uh, no, I don't think so.
3
Self-correction: affecting .003 percent of the nation [not effecting]
With Donald Trump the question is not who he's prepared to demonize or throw under the bus for political expedience, because the answer is anyone and everyone. The only question is how long it will take him to decide it's your turn.
19
As we refer to Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions III, he is Confederate General Sessions NOT Top Cop Attorney General Sessions.
Coretta Scott King’s letter of March 1986 summed this racist up.
"Mr. Sessions' conduct as U.S. Attorney, from his politically-motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws, indicates that he lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge."
Toward the end, she wrote, “Based on his record, I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect on not only the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made everywhere toward fulfilling my husband's dream that he envisioned over twenty years ago.”
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/08/514085145/read-coretta...
He is an antebellum embarrassment for every human being.
Coretta Scott King’s letter of March 1986 summed this racist up.
"Mr. Sessions' conduct as U.S. Attorney, from his politically-motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws, indicates that he lacks the temperament, fairness and judgment to be a federal judge."
Toward the end, she wrote, “Based on his record, I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect on not only the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made everywhere toward fulfilling my husband's dream that he envisioned over twenty years ago.”
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/08/514085145/read-coretta...
He is an antebellum embarrassment for every human being.
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It's "Jefferson" B. Sessions.
He was--actually--named for Jefferson Davis.
He was--actually--named for Jefferson Davis.
3
In the Grimm case, he argues that transgender bathroom rights are protected both by federal law and by the equal protection clause of the Constitution. A similar argument was used to assure the right to gay marriage. Transgenders are entitled to the same protection as gays. But they are hardly guaranteed a victory. The Court in the gay marriage case relied heavily on the fact that the right to marriage is fundamental. Whether it will rule that bathroom rights are equally fundamental is uncertain. Trump's action undermines Grimm's strong argument based on federal law, reducing the likelihood of his success. That is its real significance.
3
This is what this administration is about; limiting freedoms and rights and cow towing to extreme right wing zealots. RESIST!!
75
Having just returned from a rally for diversity in our small town, occasioned my the painting of swastikas at our local high school, I can tell you that it will be up to all of US to achieve anything positive during the trump years. The days of waiting for someone else to do it are over! Make your voice heard...stand up for what is right.
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"Mr. Trump has demonstrated time and again that his stated personal convictions are malleable."
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Putting aside Mr. Obama's numerous subtle elisions, rhetorical fallacies, and outright lies, his convictions also proved to be quite malleable. For him, traditional marriage was once not only a union between man and woman, but a "sacred union" whose tradition was justified by divine authority. Pretty powerful stuff — until it became a political liability. Yet when Mr. Obama flipped his convictions for political expediency, the Times had nothing but praise for him.
Let's be honest here. What upsets the editorial board isn't Mr. Trump's inconsistencies or moral flexibility; it's his politics.
But I suppose righteous indignation always sounds better when it fixates on virtue ethics rather than calculative politics, even if the indignation itself is the product of political calculation.
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Putting aside Mr. Obama's numerous subtle elisions, rhetorical fallacies, and outright lies, his convictions also proved to be quite malleable. For him, traditional marriage was once not only a union between man and woman, but a "sacred union" whose tradition was justified by divine authority. Pretty powerful stuff — until it became a political liability. Yet when Mr. Obama flipped his convictions for political expediency, the Times had nothing but praise for him.
Let's be honest here. What upsets the editorial board isn't Mr. Trump's inconsistencies or moral flexibility; it's his politics.
But I suppose righteous indignation always sounds better when it fixates on virtue ethics rather than calculative politics, even if the indignation itself is the product of political calculation.
8
Anyone who---through some bizarre and twisted "logic"---can equate the small number of instances when President Obama demonstrated some genuine growth and commendable change in his views that resulted in public policy improvements, with the constant bombast of unhinged hate speech, delusional declarations and outright mendacity from Donald Trump isn't paying very close attention to reality.
11
Dude, Obama is gone. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Republicans could give clear, convincing reasons for their actions, instead of just saying "other people do bad things, too"?
7
There was a time when I believed that marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman only. This concept had never been questioned in my growing-up years. But as same-sex couples began to advocate for themselves, along with allies who were much more forward thinking than I, I allowed myself to be educated, to hear the stories of gay and lesbian couples, to come to understand that same-sex couples had the same rights as heterosexual couples and that to deny them those rights was cruel. Many of us had to be educated this way and some were slower learners than others. Who is to say that when President Obama "flipped his convictions" as you say, it wasn't because he too had learned and had come to see the errors in his previous thinking? And good for the Times for praising him, for being in step with the movement, rather than adding pain to the people at the heart of the controversy. Who are you to say what the editorial board is upset over? Why can't they be upset over both the policies AND the inconsistencies of Trump?
30
I am so proud of you and the rest of the editorial board. Thank you for standing with those of us who are trans and lending your voice to the chorus of our own voices that will not be silenced. We will survive this period - we are by nature and nurture survivors and fighters - and we will not forget who fought alongside us.
216
Dear Sarah,
Many of us in red state Tennessee know transgendered people are as normal as anyone else. We are fighting the good fight and wish you love and peace. We will get their together, you'll see. Hang in there, dear.
Sincerely,
Christine Sommer
Nashville
Many of us in red state Tennessee know transgendered people are as normal as anyone else. We are fighting the good fight and wish you love and peace. We will get their together, you'll see. Hang in there, dear.
Sincerely,
Christine Sommer
Nashville
30
We didn't need a clarifying moment. Except for the handful of deluded souls in the Log Cabin Republicans, the LGBT movement has known all along that Trump was bad news, not just for us but for all Americans. There were huge numbers of gays, lesbians and trans people in the Women's March, the airport protests, and every other public action against Trump and his friends.
27
I doubt that Trump has any personal convictions. He is trying to run the country like his Apprentice TV Program, in other words, an absolute dictator. The alternative is that he is under total control of the right wing extremist that he has surrounded himself with. Either way in order to determine whether Trump is lying, just read his lips.
38
Trump is exactly the sort of autocratic dictator the Founding Fathers feared. The Electoral College was supposed to exercise independent judgment to stop such as Trump. The Electors didn't. the Republicans are too cowardly to impeach him. They're even too cowardly to investigate the corruption of the election by the Russians.
8
Memo to NYTimes editors and writers: Stop using words like "promises" or "convictions" to characterize positions Donald Trump adopted during his campaign. For that matter, stop using the word "vowed" with reference to a Trump utterance before he became president. With regard to our 45th president, these words don't apply. I might also suggest dropping the word "president" before "Trump." Just call him "Donald Trump." There's nothing presidential about him and "President Trump" sticks in my craw.
89
If you mumble just a bit, you could call trump 'Mr. Pepsodent', and no one would be the wiser. But you'd feel better.
3
Donnie any cares about one thing ... Donald J. Trump.
Everything else is negotiable.
Everything else is negotiable.
39
I'm glad The Times took care to note that it was his STATED personal convictions that were maleable, since he appears to have no real convictions at all.
41
If it is malleable, it is not a conviction. The man has no convictions. He is shallow huckster who is driven by his unending need to be in the spotlight.
73
This shouldn't be a surprise at all. Not just from Mr. Sessions. The Trump administration would prefer to please political base by discriminating against the transgender minorities rather than take on the difficult business of reducing crime or investigating Russian incursion into our elections. Schools who have allowed transgender bathroom rights for at least a decade have had zero problems. Yet here is Mr. Sessions solving a problem that only exists in the minds of zealous bigots.
25
#Notmypresident tr*mp has broken every promise he's made ever. Whether during his campaign of hate or during his years as developer of properties in NYC and Atlantic City. This isn't news to some of us who her up hearing this narcissist blabbing about this or that project that was going to be huge. Is it news if he continually makes the same lies over and over again? I don't think so.
11
This is going to be the norm. Breaking promises.
15
Saying that the president's convictions have proved malleable makes the questionable assumption that he actually has any.
21
Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump wrap themselves in the flag and carry a cross to appeal to their alt-right, Christian base. "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson
69
If Trump does carry a cross I'm guessing that he uses it as a gold-plated toothpick.
17
Still think that was a good idea to sing the national anthem Jackie Evancho?
16
She is 16 years old. If singing for someone supported by almost half of all voters is her biggest mistake, she is ahead of 95% of all teens.
This president has no personal convictions. He is a sponge for whoever talks to him last. He is also an abomination for all that this nation stands for.
112
What would you expect from our FAKE president and Hater in Chief. His words are not just malleable. He is a carnival barker, a snake oil salesman, a charlatan.
He will take health insurance from his constituents on the ACA, he will destroy agg farmers in California to deport immigrants, he will create the largest US deficit in history through tax breaks for the rich and pouring money into the military, leaving the middle class to fund those objectives and pay for his Great Wall, while saying build it now and we will figure out how to make Mexico pay later.
There is an old saying that when a politician promises anything that seems so great it's hard to believe, you should put your hand on your wallet and tighten your belt.
There will be many more rights that the FAKE president will take away before it's over.
He will take health insurance from his constituents on the ACA, he will destroy agg farmers in California to deport immigrants, he will create the largest US deficit in history through tax breaks for the rich and pouring money into the military, leaving the middle class to fund those objectives and pay for his Great Wall, while saying build it now and we will figure out how to make Mexico pay later.
There is an old saying that when a politician promises anything that seems so great it's hard to believe, you should put your hand on your wallet and tighten your belt.
There will be many more rights that the FAKE president will take away before it's over.
72
Is anyone surprised at this mean spirited action by Trump/Sessions? Transgender rights are protected under Title IX but of course, Trump and Sessions have to make things even more challenging for the members of this community. This is someone who tweets when Ivanka's clothing line is dropped by Nordstroms, claiming she was so mistreated. And what about the pain he is causing to members of the transgender community? Shame!!
148
Title IX says nothing about transgender rights, so your belief that transgender students are automatically protected is wishful thinking.
1
After the Pulse nightclub tragedy, which Trump cheaply politicized, he declared that he was "the best friend" the LBGT community ever had. In truth, he's not even a fairweather friend. Trump is a cynical opportunist, pretending to be less bigoted than the rest of his party when it suited him. Now that he is done trying to con votes, he is showing his true colors.
Not only is Trump the farthest from a friend, he is the farthest from a leader. A real leader always stands up for everyone, not just an in-group and not just when it is convenient.
Not only is Trump the farthest from a friend, he is the farthest from a leader. A real leader always stands up for everyone, not just an in-group and not just when it is convenient.
320
Trump is just following the oldest rule for becoming a leader: "Find out which way the crowd is running, and run up to the front." The man has no moral convictions on any issue or idea.
1
This is the church imposing its will on state. This is an exchange of imaginary fear for concrete cruelty.
It is not the America so many pretend to love.
It is not the America so many pretend to love.
34
"This is the church imposing its will on state"
Um no. This is the Federal Government getting out of the business of telling local entities what to do, and that is change I can believe in. It was Obama imposing his social justice warrior will on everyone by telling schools what they had to do. Trump has reversed that edict and is letting local communities decide what works best for them. He is, in fact, not forcing anyone to do anything.
Um no. This is the Federal Government getting out of the business of telling local entities what to do, and that is change I can believe in. It was Obama imposing his social justice warrior will on everyone by telling schools what they had to do. Trump has reversed that edict and is letting local communities decide what works best for them. He is, in fact, not forcing anyone to do anything.
The only purpose of this adjustment in policy is to satisfy his people's desire to hurt others. I do not expect anyone in his Party to refuse.
63
The current president has no personal convictions. He is conning us.
123
The only promises Trump has kept are to fan the fires of hatred among his rabid extremists. Oh, and tax cuts for the rich.
30
The NYT Editorial Board views the world from East of the Hudson. Not everyone happens to have your views which you seek to impose on others who might disagree. You may be surprised that most Americans don't dislike transgendered people they just don't want them in their bathroom.
8
Maybe so, but majoritarian oppression and intolerance are neither legal nor good public policy, regardless of how many people might agree with it. One key purpose of the Constitution and the courts is to protect minorities from the prejudice of the majority.
26
Seriously? As a fellow Iowan, I beg to differ: I think most Iowans and Americans believe transgender students should be able to use a restroom based on their gender identity.
31
Transgender people are already in your bathrooms. You may not even know they are there. That's how "dangerous" they are. What this right-wing generated fear is doing is causing people who now LOOK like women because inside they ARE women, to have to use men's rooms. How is that better than letting them choose the rest room they want to use. Conversely, people who now present as men, but may have been born with women's genitalia, would have to go into women's rooms. Who is planning to police this inane policy?
33