On Wednesday, North Carolina legislators decided to rein in local governments by approving a bill Wednesday that prevents cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination rules. Critics immediately focused on language in the ordinance that allowed transgender people to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity.
Republicans and their allies have said intervening is necessary to protect the safety of women and children from “radical” action by Charlotte. There have been arguments that any man — perhaps a sex offender — could enter a woman’s restroom or locker room simply by calling himself transgender.
Gov. Pat McCrory later signed the legislation, which dealt a major blow to the LGBTQ movement after success with protections in cities across the country. He said the bill was “passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette.”
Now, James Parker Sheffield, a 36-year-old transgender man in Georgia, has poked holes in the insanely wobbly logic of the bill with one highly succinct Tweet:
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@PatMcCroryNC It’s now the law for me to share a restroom with your wife. #HB2 #trans #NorthCarolina #shameonNC pic.twitter.com/4b4OdmfmeN
— JP Sheffield (@JayShef) March 24, 2016
McCrory tells The Huffington Post:
Just like cisgender people, trans folks fall all over a spectrum of masculinity and femininity, regardless of how we personally identify…
“Besides the obvious misconception that trans people are in a public restroom to do anything other than use the restroom, I think most people neglect to see the personal safety issues connected to these poorly conceived legislative moves.
“Imagine me following the law and walking into a women’s room at a gas station or fast food place. Will someone in that restroom feel threatened by a grown man with a beard walking in?”
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