Okay, maybe not this bathroom, but -
I note that Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) is saying that he's going to bring back the transgender bathroom bill that failed to pass in the last legislative session because ""This North Carolina law has taken the blinders off for a lot of people,"
Well yes, it has taken the blinders off for me. It has made it clear that people proposing these ridiculous bills around the country really don't care about "protecting children" so much as they care about ridiculing and persecuting people for the crime of "being different". Which is apparently enough these days.
To hear the proponents tell the story you would think there were plenty of men out there in the world so desperate to commit sexual assault that they are willing to dress up as women to be able to sneak into bathrooms to do their evil deeds. Now I don't question that there are plenty of men doing evil deeds but there already seem to be lots of easier opportunities - this is just some sort of crazed ideological fantasy. Besides which, if people were going to do that - what in heaven's name makes people think that life has suddenly become "more dangerous" because they noticed trans people - who've been, not to put too fine of a point on it, in our midst forever.
We're now even seeing people suggesting that Target needs to - well, I am not sure what they think Target should do. Bathroom Police? Checks of birth certificates before you can pee? Genital inspection? Just because Target thinks you should use the restroom that you're comfortable in? We're starting to see people "testing" Target bathrooms - I find this one hell of a lot more offensive than some transexual person wanting to use the rest room.
But all that aside, let's look at the practical issue of our state once again embarking on a right-wing-fueled ideological legislative path that can only result in costs to the state and litigation. The Justice Department has just ruled that the North Carolina "model" law violates the Federal Civil Rights Act. They are threatening pulling millions of dollars in federal school funding because of the law, which violates Title IX and Title VII.
Because sure enough - if there's one thing Wisconsin needs, it's even less money for our schools, discrimination, and shaming of people who seem or act differently than "the norm". North Carolina has also managed to put themselves out of the running for conventions and business development because of their law. Great, even more opportunity for our state to shoot itself in the foot economically.
Perhaps when my generation is gone, and we're left with no "senior" people to populate the Republican Party, we can move forward to actually deal with issues that will improve life in Wisconsin.