Am I the only one who remembers in grade school little assigned females were bigger than little assigned males?
Let me be clear Marcy, segregation is not equality. Equality doesn’t mean we are all the same because each of us is different. Yet each of us must be able to play by the same rules on the same fields, and cooking in the same kitchens, being seated in the same dining rooms. Each different, each of us treated with the same dignity.
Raising my hand as someone who does remember and sometimes wonders why in lower school grades we don't always have separate boys and girls teams for, say, basketball even though doing otherwise is "unfair" to the boys who at that point are less developed than the girls?
Well… I can only speak for myself: I’m glad that my children’s school wasn’t segregated. I am glad that my children got to grow up as I did. That is to see each other as worthy of equal treatment. Generalizations are not the answer. Segregation is not the answer. Ability, maturity, and energy. Not sex characteristics, not skin tones, not heritage.
I think you've misunderstood my point, or maybe it was less clear than I thought.
So to explain more fully: I've noticed how in discussions about bans on trans folks competing by their identity, there is always a lot of talk about and emphasis on how that's "unfair" to the cis competitors - but the issue is almost if not exclusively about trans women, not trans men, because, apparently, it is not thought "unfair" to the cis men to have that trans man compete. Which I say comes from an unspoken assumption that "Well, no *girl* could really compete against a *real boy* in sports, amirite?" so no question of "unfairness" arises.
But if the issue is "fairness" based on physical superiority, why isn't it done from the start, at a time when, again, girls (who mature quicker) may have such an advantage over boys?
The answer, which I thought my comment reasonably clearly suggested, is that the bans never were about fairness. They're about stereotyping based on sex.
I remember it! Not so much in the lowest grades, when differences in size had little or nothing to do with assigned sex at birth, but starting around 5th grade, and running right through 8th grade - in 9th grade, the AMAB kids were catching up again, but didn't really pass the AFAB kids until 10th. (Collectively speaking - some of those assumed-boys never did catch up with, f'ex, me.)
I keep thinking about a what-they-want-you-to-think/what-it-really-looks-like two-pane cartoon (I'm missing a lot of the skills for putting something like that online, but I might try anyway, because it really needs to be a thing). First pane has a hulking hairy clearly-old-enough-to-vote (and thus obviously not eligible for *any* 11-12 yo soccer team) person looming over a fairly typical 11yo soccer-playing girl; second pane has exactly the same 11yo, looming (not by as much, ofc) over a fairly typical 11yo AMAB kid (i.e., trans girl). Not sure just how I'll make clear that the trans girl *is* a trans girl, possibly what's on her t-shirt. (Cis girl is easier; at 11 she likely has breast buds that give her t-shirt a slight bit of curve.)
I want to holler, 'Cheese Louise, people, have you ever even *seen* pre-teen kids?!?' at Kaptur and other transphobes, but of course they have; that imaginary built-like-a-linebacker trans girl is an intentional scare tactic, meant to stir emotions *without* rational thought.
Yup, she stood on a college campus informing us about how she'd never had a man be inappropriate with her because of how she always dressed appropriately. And that girls who had those "kinds of problems" should look at themselves and as a community we should consider our behavior's impact on men and college age boys.
So many things wrong with what she said to us. It has stayed with me ever since.
That is truly horrendous and grotesque!! And ironic how people like that never blame television sets or diamond earrings for being "too much of a temptation" for thieves/burglars 😒🤔
Ewww. If her ad is accurate that her opponent isn't even talking about ~*!SCARY TRANS PEOPLE!*~ (everything else in the ad seems to be BS, so that's a big if, but I'mma go with it to make the point), Ohio might be better off electing that opponent.
This absolutely disgusts me. I used to live in her district, and I met her in her office when I was a grassroots lobbyist for Free Internet back in the 90s. I was fighting to keep the internet as a Title III communications utility to prevent it from becoming a private arena for profiteers.
She was adamant at that time about equality and inclusion, and then she changed her song and tune to lock step with the hateful minority in hopes of keeping her job.
I am sick and tired of career politicians. Our public servants should be temporary at best because if they truly believe in the ideals of a free and equal society, they will spend their time working on legislation and policy to ensure it, instead of spending their time and ideals on keeping their cushy job with cushy pay and cushy benefits and cushy kickbacks.
We need to change and she has shown that she doesn't want change - wants a status quo, and is fighting to make sure of it.
But what other choice do we have? Give ourselves over to the bigots of the MAGA Reich? I hate being between Scylla and Charybdis.
Ohio Dems are a mess this year. They’ve clearly made a calculation that they need to take this stance because the state is such a socially conservative swamp. My only regret is that I’m not in Kaptur’s district and can’t withhold my vote the way I will with Acton.
We’re stuck here for at least three more years, maybe more, so it’s incredibly disheartening to see such cowardly behavior from Democrats. There’s literally no one in power who will serve my son’s interests.
The Ohio DNC (ODP) has imbibed of the third way kool aid. I believe they're advising candidates to take money from transphobic PACs and donors, and still rolling with blaming trans people for biden blatantly throwing the election, but they are not very transparent about their scheming.
Ohioan here. This is disgusting. I'm furious. Ohio politicians are obsessed with children's genitalia and they are a vomitous bunch. Trans people are regular people and deserve full human rights.
I'm calling this what it rightly is: an unhealthy culture of people who want a legal reason to look at the genitalia of children. Despicable.
Oh goodie, another member of the gerontocracy with a fresh, steaming batch of hot takes about whose rights she's okay with sacrificing in the name of keeping her butt parked in the taxpayers' chair for another two years!
Thanks, I hate it.
Cue another round of anti-trans ads targeting her anyway, because voters on the right won't be watching any channel her ads air on so they'll never see her craven rebuttal, and even if they did... for the umpteenth time... fascists don't want Diet Hate when they can have it with an extra scoop of awful. Centrists don't care about culture war issues. Progressives won't vote for bigots. Whose fucking votes are you even courting here, Marcy?
The Dems are making me crazy! Why are they always reactive and on the defense?
When you take a position, you should know why and be able to articulate it to a friendly audience and an adversarial one! Isn’t that what politics is all about. Instead of meeting the challenge head on, they fold and/or take the position of their adversary….WTF!
They are pretty much attacking themselves…they are like, “hey, I know you’re going to shoot me, so why don’t I beat you to it”.
No, you need to take an affirmative position, anticipate the BS that’s coming and be prepared — not go and shoot yourself in the foot.
It’s like what I say to parents I work with, don’t take a position, if you don’t feel like you can stand behind it and implement it. Because if you fold on your own decision, you look insecure and weak — as in not confident as a parent. So, it’s better to not take the position at all, rather than waffle. That doesn’t mean being rigid. Confidence and integrity foster openness to dissent and an ability to nuance how you manage that dissent.
And when will Dems realize trying to play on the MAGA/Republicans field, doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as one of the team and they’ll support you; it just makes EVERYONE hate and mistrust you and see you as gutless, unprincipled, and untrustworthy (not to mention a pathetic opportunist)!…. but maybe that makes you the definition of a politician 🤨
The Dems are making me crazy! Why are they always reactive and on the defense?
When you take a position, you should know why and be able to articulate it to a friendly audience and an adversarial one! Isn’t that what politics is all about. Instead of meeting the challenge head on, they fold and/or take the position of their adversary….WTF!
They are pretty much attacking themselves…they are like, “hey, I know you’re going to shoot me, so why don’t I beat you to it”.
No, you need to take an affirmative position, anticipate the BS that’s coming and be prepared — not go and shoot yourself in the foot.
It’s like what I say to parents I work with, don’t take a position, if you don’t feel like you can stand behind it and implement it. Because if you fold on your own decision, you look insecure and weak — as in not confident as a parent. So, it’s better to not take the position at all, rather than waffle. That doesn’t mean being rigid. Confidence and integrity foster openness to dissent and an ability to nuance how you manage that dissent.
And when will Dems realize trying to play on the MAGA/Republicans field, doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as one of the team and they’ll support you; it just makes EVERYONE hate and distrust you and see you as gutless, unprincipled, and untrustworthy (not to mention a pathetic opportunist)!…. but maybe that makes you the definition of a politician 🤨
Congrats Kaptur, now your face is right next to the most overused attack on Democrats.
Surely people will interpret that exactly how you intend them to and not internalize the message into Anti-Dem sentiment in any shape or form. Right? /S
Please tell how she's any different than the republican candidate? And when will dems learn? This position will not help you gain votes and will cause you to lose some. I would love for politicians to support trans rights but if they just want to cop-out and say it's none of my business that will help. You don't have to bring water to the fire, but please stop bringing gasoline.
Being stabbed in the back is as stabbed as being stabbed in the front is.
We all have to know the GOP has no apparent objections to make to those who literally, openly want us all rounded up and executed or imprisoned. How can any of us vote for such a Democrat as this. Why not with this have a GOP/MAGA in office to run against cleanly next time?
Here is another politician taking the easy way out by making statements about the transgender community without apparently knowing the first thing about the science, the medical evidence, or the lives of the people they are affecting.
It is time for these politicians to stop repeating the bullshit and start doing their homework. Learn about the transgender community. Listen to medical professionals. Review the scientific evidence. Understand the real-world consequences of the policies they support.
Our transgender children and adults deserve politicians who make intelligent, informed decisions based on facts—not political talking points, fear, and the bullshit they hear and then expose to the public as truth.
Being an elected official comes with a responsibility to learn before speaking and to represent all of your constituents—not just the people who agree with you.
The transgender community deserves dignity, fairness, and equal rights. It is long past time for politicians to start acting like leaders and stop using vulnerable people as political targets.
Am I the only one who remembers in grade school little assigned females were bigger than little assigned males?
Let me be clear Marcy, segregation is not equality. Equality doesn’t mean we are all the same because each of us is different. Yet each of us must be able to play by the same rules on the same fields, and cooking in the same kitchens, being seated in the same dining rooms. Each different, each of us treated with the same dignity.
Assigned and identify as female. I was bigger than most boys.
Raising my hand as someone who does remember and sometimes wonders why in lower school grades we don't always have separate boys and girls teams for, say, basketball even though doing otherwise is "unfair" to the boys who at that point are less developed than the girls?
Well… I can only speak for myself: I’m glad that my children’s school wasn’t segregated. I am glad that my children got to grow up as I did. That is to see each other as worthy of equal treatment. Generalizations are not the answer. Segregation is not the answer. Ability, maturity, and energy. Not sex characteristics, not skin tones, not heritage.
I think you've misunderstood my point, or maybe it was less clear than I thought.
So to explain more fully: I've noticed how in discussions about bans on trans folks competing by their identity, there is always a lot of talk about and emphasis on how that's "unfair" to the cis competitors - but the issue is almost if not exclusively about trans women, not trans men, because, apparently, it is not thought "unfair" to the cis men to have that trans man compete. Which I say comes from an unspoken assumption that "Well, no *girl* could really compete against a *real boy* in sports, amirite?" so no question of "unfairness" arises.
But if the issue is "fairness" based on physical superiority, why isn't it done from the start, at a time when, again, girls (who mature quicker) may have such an advantage over boys?
The answer, which I thought my comment reasonably clearly suggested, is that the bans never were about fairness. They're about stereotyping based on sex.
I remember it! Not so much in the lowest grades, when differences in size had little or nothing to do with assigned sex at birth, but starting around 5th grade, and running right through 8th grade - in 9th grade, the AMAB kids were catching up again, but didn't really pass the AFAB kids until 10th. (Collectively speaking - some of those assumed-boys never did catch up with, f'ex, me.)
I keep thinking about a what-they-want-you-to-think/what-it-really-looks-like two-pane cartoon (I'm missing a lot of the skills for putting something like that online, but I might try anyway, because it really needs to be a thing). First pane has a hulking hairy clearly-old-enough-to-vote (and thus obviously not eligible for *any* 11-12 yo soccer team) person looming over a fairly typical 11yo soccer-playing girl; second pane has exactly the same 11yo, looming (not by as much, ofc) over a fairly typical 11yo AMAB kid (i.e., trans girl). Not sure just how I'll make clear that the trans girl *is* a trans girl, possibly what's on her t-shirt. (Cis girl is easier; at 11 she likely has breast buds that give her t-shirt a slight bit of curve.)
I want to holler, 'Cheese Louise, people, have you ever even *seen* pre-teen kids?!?' at Kaptur and other transphobes, but of course they have; that imaginary built-like-a-linebacker trans girl is an intentional scare tactic, meant to stir emotions *without* rational thought.
Marcy Kaptur has been a rape apologist since I first saw her speak on my college campus in the mid 90s.
No one should be surprised by this stream of sewage from her.
She collects her money, uses the healthcare - we're paying for, and does approximately fuck all for any of her constituents.
"Marcy Kaptur has been a rape apologist since I first saw her speak on my college campus in the mid 90s."
Eh? For real?
Yup, she stood on a college campus informing us about how she'd never had a man be inappropriate with her because of how she always dressed appropriately. And that girls who had those "kinds of problems" should look at themselves and as a community we should consider our behavior's impact on men and college age boys.
So many things wrong with what she said to us. It has stayed with me ever since.
"...she'd never had a man be inappropriate with her because of how she always dressed appropriately"
Good Lord! She literally made the longer skirt argument!
That is truly horrendous and grotesque!! And ironic how people like that never blame television sets or diamond earrings for being "too much of a temptation" for thieves/burglars 😒🤔
Replace her with your power of the vote.
Been working on that for 30 years now...
Ewww. If her ad is accurate that her opponent isn't even talking about ~*!SCARY TRANS PEOPLE!*~ (everything else in the ad seems to be BS, so that's a big if, but I'mma go with it to make the point), Ohio might be better off electing that opponent.
This absolutely disgusts me. I used to live in her district, and I met her in her office when I was a grassroots lobbyist for Free Internet back in the 90s. I was fighting to keep the internet as a Title III communications utility to prevent it from becoming a private arena for profiteers.
She was adamant at that time about equality and inclusion, and then she changed her song and tune to lock step with the hateful minority in hopes of keeping her job.
I am sick and tired of career politicians. Our public servants should be temporary at best because if they truly believe in the ideals of a free and equal society, they will spend their time working on legislation and policy to ensure it, instead of spending their time and ideals on keeping their cushy job with cushy pay and cushy benefits and cushy kickbacks.
We need to change and she has shown that she doesn't want change - wants a status quo, and is fighting to make sure of it.
But what other choice do we have? Give ourselves over to the bigots of the MAGA Reich? I hate being between Scylla and Charybdis.
Not only should there be term limits, but life time pensiins but all benefits need to be removed once out of office.
If we the people do not get them they the elite should not either.
They shouldn't even be drawing benefits while they're 𝘪𝘯 office, so long as they refuse those same benefits to the people they're meant to be serving.
Term limits, no more Mitch McConnells stealing tax dollars for duty not honored.
Ohio Dems are a mess this year. They’ve clearly made a calculation that they need to take this stance because the state is such a socially conservative swamp. My only regret is that I’m not in Kaptur’s district and can’t withhold my vote the way I will with Acton.
We’re stuck here for at least three more years, maybe more, so it’s incredibly disheartening to see such cowardly behavior from Democrats. There’s literally no one in power who will serve my son’s interests.
The Ohio DNC (ODP) has imbibed of the third way kool aid. I believe they're advising candidates to take money from transphobic PACs and donors, and still rolling with blaming trans people for biden blatantly throwing the election, but they are not very transparent about their scheming.
These people are the worst. I thank God Senator Markey beat Moulton in the primary here in MA.
Just to note that "beat" is rather an understatement - unless you were meaning the old line "beat like a rug."
🤣
A dare say it was a shellacking!
Ohioan here. This is disgusting. I'm furious. Ohio politicians are obsessed with children's genitalia and they are a vomitous bunch. Trans people are regular people and deserve full human rights.
I'm calling this what it rightly is: an unhealthy culture of people who want a legal reason to look at the genitalia of children. Despicable.
Fuck transphobes.
Oh goodie, another member of the gerontocracy with a fresh, steaming batch of hot takes about whose rights she's okay with sacrificing in the name of keeping her butt parked in the taxpayers' chair for another two years!
Thanks, I hate it.
Cue another round of anti-trans ads targeting her anyway, because voters on the right won't be watching any channel her ads air on so they'll never see her craven rebuttal, and even if they did... for the umpteenth time... fascists don't want Diet Hate when they can have it with an extra scoop of awful. Centrists don't care about culture war issues. Progressives won't vote for bigots. Whose fucking votes are you even courting here, Marcy?
The Dems are making me crazy! Why are they always reactive and on the defense?
When you take a position, you should know why and be able to articulate it to a friendly audience and an adversarial one! Isn’t that what politics is all about. Instead of meeting the challenge head on, they fold and/or take the position of their adversary….WTF!
They are pretty much attacking themselves…they are like, “hey, I know you’re going to shoot me, so why don’t I beat you to it”.
No, you need to take an affirmative position, anticipate the BS that’s coming and be prepared — not go and shoot yourself in the foot.
It’s like what I say to parents I work with, don’t take a position, if you don’t feel like you can stand behind it and implement it. Because if you fold on your own decision, you look insecure and weak — as in not confident as a parent. So, it’s better to not take the position at all, rather than waffle. That doesn’t mean being rigid. Confidence and integrity foster openness to dissent and an ability to nuance how you manage that dissent.
And when will Dems realize trying to play on the MAGA/Republicans field, doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as one of the team and they’ll support you; it just makes EVERYONE hate and mistrust you and see you as gutless, unprincipled, and untrustworthy (not to mention a pathetic opportunist)!…. but maybe that makes you the definition of a politician 🤨
The Dems are making me crazy! Why are they always reactive and on the defense?
When you take a position, you should know why and be able to articulate it to a friendly audience and an adversarial one! Isn’t that what politics is all about. Instead of meeting the challenge head on, they fold and/or take the position of their adversary….WTF!
They are pretty much attacking themselves…they are like, “hey, I know you’re going to shoot me, so why don’t I beat you to it”.
No, you need to take an affirmative position, anticipate the BS that’s coming and be prepared — not go and shoot yourself in the foot.
It’s like what I say to parents I work with, don’t take a position, if you don’t feel like you can stand behind it and implement it. Because if you fold on your own decision, you look insecure and weak — as in not confident as a parent. So, it’s better to not take the position at all, rather than waffle. That doesn’t mean being rigid. Confidence and integrity foster openness to dissent and an ability to nuance how you manage that dissent.
And when will Dems realize trying to play on the MAGA/Republicans field, doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as one of the team and they’ll support you; it just makes EVERYONE hate and distrust you and see you as gutless, unprincipled, and untrustworthy (not to mention a pathetic opportunist)!…. but maybe that makes you the definition of a politician 🤨
This kind of capitulation to MAGA fascism is really disturbing. And infuriating.
Congrats Kaptur, now your face is right next to the most overused attack on Democrats.
Surely people will interpret that exactly how you intend them to and not internalize the message into Anti-Dem sentiment in any shape or form. Right? /S
WOW!! Well, at least we now KNOW where she stands. Just being a Democrat no longer guarantees us ANYTHING.
Please tell how she's any different than the republican candidate? And when will dems learn? This position will not help you gain votes and will cause you to lose some. I would love for politicians to support trans rights but if they just want to cop-out and say it's none of my business that will help. You don't have to bring water to the fire, but please stop bringing gasoline.
Being stabbed in the back is as stabbed as being stabbed in the front is.
We all have to know the GOP has no apparent objections to make to those who literally, openly want us all rounded up and executed or imprisoned. How can any of us vote for such a Democrat as this. Why not with this have a GOP/MAGA in office to run against cleanly next time?
Thank Mrs. Reed for the reporting.
Here is another politician taking the easy way out by making statements about the transgender community without apparently knowing the first thing about the science, the medical evidence, or the lives of the people they are affecting.
It is time for these politicians to stop repeating the bullshit and start doing their homework. Learn about the transgender community. Listen to medical professionals. Review the scientific evidence. Understand the real-world consequences of the policies they support.
Our transgender children and adults deserve politicians who make intelligent, informed decisions based on facts—not political talking points, fear, and the bullshit they hear and then expose to the public as truth.
Being an elected official comes with a responsibility to learn before speaking and to represent all of your constituents—not just the people who agree with you.
The transgender community deserves dignity, fairness, and equal rights. It is long past time for politicians to start acting like leaders and stop using vulnerable people as political targets.
Kaptur needs to retire!