The ongoing battle over bathroom privacy and “transgender children” moves to South Dakota this year, potentially bringing us one step closer to an eventual showdown in the Supreme Court. The state government has now passed a bill mandating that school children have the right to use bathrooms, locker rooms and showers shared only with other children of the same natural born gender. (CNN)
South Dakota could become the first state to ban transgender students from using restrooms of the gender they identify with.
The state Senate passed the bill Tuesday in a 20-15 vote, after the state House approved it 58-10 last month. The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s desk.
If the governor signs off, school restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities that could be occupied by multiple students may only be used by students of the same biological sex.
The Governor hasn’t given a definite answer in advance, but appears ready to sign the bill into law. One of the key features to watch in this particular battle is that South Dakota has taken preemptive measures to counter the typical complaints which will still arise from the SJW community. If any students who claim to be transgender have written permission from their parents (which is an entirely different problem) they will be provided with an accommodation in the form of either unisex facilities or single user facilities open to both genders.
As we’ve seen in all the other cases playing out across the nation, though, that obviously won’t be good enough. It’s simply not enough for the school (or the state) to say that you can claim whichever gender you choose and make use of the special accommodation. Oh no… you must be allowed to force your “choice” on everyone else and, in the more common cases, use the showers with young girls even though you are clearly a boy. You Will Be Made To Care, and the privacy or sensibilities of the majority count for nothing. We don’t need a crystal ball to predict that this one will be challenged and sent up the line for the courts to consider.
In a somewhat related story, the Olympics are coming up again this Summer and the Olympic Committee seems to be ready to go in the opposite direction. But this isn’t just a story about bathrooms or training facilities. We seem to be primed for an Olympic meeting where anyone can compete in any sport based on the gender they “self-identify” as. (CNN)
Now transgender athletes look set to compete at the Olympic Games for the first time without first having to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Medical chiefs at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have recommended the change which could mean transgender athletes would be more readily able to take part in this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well as other international events.
Transgender athletes have been allowed to compete at the Games since 2004 but only after surgery, having undergone a minimum of two years hormone therapy and being legally recognized as their changed gender.
In some ways this is a quite different scenario, primarily because we’re talking about adults. They get to make their own choices in such matters and will need to sort out these complications through the normal order of business, which is a far cry from children being subjected to such abusive behavior in public schools which they are required to attend. But that doesn’t mean that the question of the Olympics is without controversy. The bottom line here is that as much as feminists and other Social Justice Warriors may not want to admit it, we have gender specific sporting events in both amateur and professional competitions for a reason. Tossing out all propriety and recognition of natural laws throws a major wrench into the works.
For one of the more famous examples, take Usain Bolt, the current world record holder for the 100-meter sprint. He recently broke his own world record with a 9.58 second run in Berlin and may be on track (pun intended) to do it again at the Olympics. He did nearly as well in the Beijing championships last year, where poor Su Bingtian of China finished in 9th place with a time of 10.06 seconds. Did you catch that? Less than half a second slower, and Su took 9th place.
Now let’s look at the performance of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who shocked the world in the same games with a huge victory. In fact, her time in the 100-meter sprint was good enough to place her in a tie at number 7 for the all time fastest women in the sport. She crossed the finish line in 10.70 seconds.
But in this brave new world of ours we have all sorts of options. Su Bingtian can simply put on a skirt, go on the Late Show and tell Stephen Colbert that he identifies as a woman. When he shows up in Rio he will blow away the field by a full half second and bring home the gold, rather than having to be content with a participation trophy for at least having been in the stadium.
Sound fair to you? Come on, ladies… we’re all the same after all, aren’t we? Give poor Su a chance.
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