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HB 609 purports to protect privacy, but would actually harm Montanans, creating the precise problem it intends to solve. It requires those using protected facilities to use the facility designated for their “biological sex,” ignoring that one of every 2,000 babies is born intersex. (An intersex condition that "can involve abnormalities of the external genitals, internal reproductive organs, sex chromosomes or sex-related hormones." In other words, it's a condition that may have no physical manifestation. And, external manifestations vary. In other words, there is little evidence that "intersex" individuals would be harmed.
Thus, it is a speculative problem, amounting to roughly 50 people in Montana [.05% of people]. The proposed act states that it is "REQUIRING A PERSON USING A LOCKER ROOM OR OTHER PROTECTED FACILITY IN A GOVERNMENT BUILDING OR PUBLIC SCHOOL TO USE THE FACILITY DESIGNATED FOR THAT PERSON'S BIOLOGICAL SEX..."
So the question is, should locker rooms be open for a man to simply walk in when little girls are showering? Is there any potential harm there, and how does that compare with the letter writer's perceived harm caused by the proposed law? It's a valid question, and the letter writer will not address it.)
HB 609 allows an “original birth certificate” to be used as evidence of biological sex, but many states — including Montana — allow transgender individuals to change their birth certificates after appropriate treatment or surgical procedure. (Hmm. So what's the problem?)
Imagine Jazz Jennings, a teen girl who never went through male puberty, in the men’s restroom. Imagine Aydian Dowling, runner up to the cover of Men’s Health, in the women’s changing room. Further, imagine the hostility and embarrassment felt by all if Montanans police restrooms — parents outing transgender students; transphobic individuals standing guard at public restrooms. (Subject change. Imaging all sort of horrors, the author has changed her victims, and envisions a Nazi-like atmosphere fostered by people who simply want their daughters to pee without men in the bathroom.)
Instead of enacting a law to further discriminate against this population, (What discrimination, exactly?)
we should send the message that Montanans are unprejudiced. (They're not. No one is without prejudice. The author is prejudiced, it's that her prejudice is acceptable to herself. She is happy to call people "transphobic." That is perfectly acceptable, apparently.)
Transgender people are among the most targeted in the U.S., with 41 percent attempting suicide (If this is true, then why do gays, supposedly also "targeted," have a suicide rate of only 10-20%?, And blacks, who have been discriminated against in the most egegious ways, have a similar suicide rate as compared to whites. Why would this be, unless suicide is not correlated to discrimination?)
and 64 percent having experienced sexual assault (Again, why? Do lifestyle choices put people in positions where their risk for getting assaulted might be higher, perhaps?)
(there are no statistics indicating transgender individuals are more likely to commit sexual assault). (Red Herring. People are not claiming that it will be transgender people committing sexual assaults. The risk is that ANY person can go into ANY locker room and commit crimes against children.)
HB 609 could cost Montana millions in civil actions, lost jobs and investments. In response to HB 2 of North Carolina, 90+ CEOs wrote an opposition letter, 1,750+ North Carolinians lost jobs and $77 million+ of investments and visitor spending was forfeited. Recent estimates indicate NC will lose nearly $4 billion in lost business over 12 years. (Yeah, if only they would let men into their girl's bathrooms. That would be worth the money.)
HB 609 unduly burdens transgender and gender nonconforming people, encourages state employees to police restrooms, and empowers transphobic individuals to question anyone they think doesn’t look male or female enough. Transgender individuals are not dangerous and allowing HB 609 to proceed sends the wrong message to all Montanans and our would-be tourists.
HB 609 allows an “original birth certificate” to be used as evidence of biological sex, but many states — including Montana — allow transgender individuals to change their birth certificates after appropriate treatment or surgical procedure. (Hmm. So what's the problem?)
Imagine Jazz Jennings, a teen girl who never went through male puberty, in the men’s restroom. Imagine Aydian Dowling, runner up to the cover of Men’s Health, in the women’s changing room. Further, imagine the hostility and embarrassment felt by all if Montanans police restrooms — parents outing transgender students; transphobic individuals standing guard at public restrooms. (Subject change. Imaging all sort of horrors, the author has changed her victims, and envisions a Nazi-like atmosphere fostered by people who simply want their daughters to pee without men in the bathroom.)
Instead of enacting a law to further discriminate against this population, (What discrimination, exactly?)
we should send the message that Montanans are unprejudiced. (They're not. No one is without prejudice. The author is prejudiced, it's that her prejudice is acceptable to herself. She is happy to call people "transphobic." That is perfectly acceptable, apparently.)
Transgender people are among the most targeted in the U.S., with 41 percent attempting suicide (If this is true, then why do gays, supposedly also "targeted," have a suicide rate of only 10-20%?, And blacks, who have been discriminated against in the most egegious ways, have a similar suicide rate as compared to whites. Why would this be, unless suicide is not correlated to discrimination?)
and 64 percent having experienced sexual assault (Again, why? Do lifestyle choices put people in positions where their risk for getting assaulted might be higher, perhaps?)
(there are no statistics indicating transgender individuals are more likely to commit sexual assault). (Red Herring. People are not claiming that it will be transgender people committing sexual assaults. The risk is that ANY person can go into ANY locker room and commit crimes against children.)
HB 609 could cost Montana millions in civil actions, lost jobs and investments. In response to HB 2 of North Carolina, 90+ CEOs wrote an opposition letter, 1,750+ North Carolinians lost jobs and $77 million+ of investments and visitor spending was forfeited. Recent estimates indicate NC will lose nearly $4 billion in lost business over 12 years. (Yeah, if only they would let men into their girl's bathrooms. That would be worth the money.)
HB 609 unduly burdens transgender and gender nonconforming people, encourages state employees to police restrooms, and empowers transphobic individuals to question anyone they think doesn’t look male or female enough. Transgender individuals are not dangerous and allowing HB 609 to proceed sends the wrong message to all Montanans and our would-be tourists.
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