On Monday, a bill advanced in Utah that would charge transgender people with a crime if they use the bathroom of their gender identity. It now goes to the full Utah Senate for final passage.
I have serious doubts about Senator Weiler's sincerity. In 2023, he was the author of a bill forcing schools to out trans kids to their unsupportive parents. That bill passed but is currently being challenged in court.
In 2022, Weiler's district gained a very large chunk of a liberal SLC neighborhood in an attempt to erase the political power of that district. That liberal neighborhood is very politically active and I suspect that he fears they bit off more than they meant to and that Weiler knows his fellow republicans will pass this bill even if he pretends to speak out. I don't trust that he is doing anything but trying to cast a meaningless vote that he can hide behind and hopefully salvage his Senate seat in this year's election. Anytime you can throw a Republican out of office, DO IT. Nothing I have ever seen suggests they can be trusted.
What a chaotic mess. You'd think police would have better stuff to do than be bathroom gestapo 24/7, inspecting everyone's genitals. The thing that constantly amazes me is the obstinance around spillover effects. "Sorry ma'am, you are a bit too tall and were suspected of being a man." Cis people tend to not enjoy being misgendered either. Practically every one of these ridiculously cruel laws involves something like that and they just don't care. It even works better so they can have a better claim in court that it's "not discrimination". Hate trumps any other consideration for these lunatics.
Sometimes the cruelest pieces of legislation are also the most patently ridiculous. So if I’m understanding correctly, a post-op trans person could use the correct bathroom but they would need to carry around their birth certificate and proof of their SRS surgery, just to use a public bathroom? That seems completely ridiculous. Also, who and what criteria would be used to determine who gets detained and questioned in bathrooms? Some trans women “pass” better than some cis gender-non-conforming or masculine-appearing women, Naturally, the latter group could escape trouble by showing their birth certificates or submitting to a physical exam, but once they’ve been stopped, it’s sort of too late….the humiliation part has already occurred. So these anti-trans laws ultimately degrade and demean all woman, whether cis or trans.
Unfortunately, I expect this bill will ultimately pass. In the unlikely event of a governor’s veto, it will probably just get overridden. The only solution is to challenge it in court. I hope Utah advocacy organizations are taking note, and preparing now for that fight. Ultimately, what a waste of Utah taxpayer’s money, In the meantime, sadly, it sounds like post-op trans people are going to have to dig into their files for their proof of SRS surgery if they want to transit the state with maximum peace of mind.
One other glimmer of hope is that maybe, due to the enforcement difficulties and the obviously cruel and nonsensical nature of this, confrontations and arrests will be rare to nonexistent once it actually goes into effect
I say, in states that pass these ridiculous laws, all of us cis-gender people start using bathrooms that don’t match our birth certificate, in protest. 😡
I was born in Utah. I learned to drive in Utah. I went to school in Utah. Every vacation my family ever went on was somewhere in Utah. I got married in Utah. My children were born in Utah. My grandparents are buried in Utah.
When this law passes, I'll never be able to safely go back. It's gutting.
So, if this bill goes into effect, shouldn’t we recruit people to go to many places, like the Utah legislative buildings, the airport, etc, and accuse everyone of not being the sex of the bathroom they are using? Make tens of thousands of accusations in a day and completely overwhelm the system? Make everyone need to show their genitalia to not be thrown in jail. Make sure every legislator who votes for this bill is accused multiple times. I assume there isn’t a specific penalty for making a false accusation. Basically do the real life equivalent of an internet denial of service attack. Make thousands and thousands of accusations. Most cis people don’t carry their birth certificate so they’d all be arrested and sentenced or brought in to court.
They are going to get sued into the ground. And a good thing too. The only way red states are ever going to behave is to have their economic life blood sucked from them.
For the purposes of this law, would trans people have to have bottom surgery? Is top surgery sufficient for trans men? It's wrong and ridiculous either way, but I am wondering what is considered "sufficient" if anyone knows and can share.
If these apes think they are going to keep us out of bathrooms we’ve been using most of our lives they have another thing coming we are way more intelligent then these rejects from the planet of the apes
So.....anyone can be accused of being transgender in the “wrong” bathroom huh? What’s to stop us from accusing them? Wouldn’t they have to submit to their own genitalia exam to prove that they are cis? 🙃
I have serious doubts about Senator Weiler's sincerity. In 2023, he was the author of a bill forcing schools to out trans kids to their unsupportive parents. That bill passed but is currently being challenged in court.
In 2022, Weiler's district gained a very large chunk of a liberal SLC neighborhood in an attempt to erase the political power of that district. That liberal neighborhood is very politically active and I suspect that he fears they bit off more than they meant to and that Weiler knows his fellow republicans will pass this bill even if he pretends to speak out. I don't trust that he is doing anything but trying to cast a meaningless vote that he can hide behind and hopefully salvage his Senate seat in this year's election. Anytime you can throw a Republican out of office, DO IT. Nothing I have ever seen suggests they can be trusted.
What a chaotic mess. You'd think police would have better stuff to do than be bathroom gestapo 24/7, inspecting everyone's genitals. The thing that constantly amazes me is the obstinance around spillover effects. "Sorry ma'am, you are a bit too tall and were suspected of being a man." Cis people tend to not enjoy being misgendered either. Practically every one of these ridiculously cruel laws involves something like that and they just don't care. It even works better so they can have a better claim in court that it's "not discrimination". Hate trumps any other consideration for these lunatics.
Sometimes the cruelest pieces of legislation are also the most patently ridiculous. So if I’m understanding correctly, a post-op trans person could use the correct bathroom but they would need to carry around their birth certificate and proof of their SRS surgery, just to use a public bathroom? That seems completely ridiculous. Also, who and what criteria would be used to determine who gets detained and questioned in bathrooms? Some trans women “pass” better than some cis gender-non-conforming or masculine-appearing women, Naturally, the latter group could escape trouble by showing their birth certificates or submitting to a physical exam, but once they’ve been stopped, it’s sort of too late….the humiliation part has already occurred. So these anti-trans laws ultimately degrade and demean all woman, whether cis or trans.
Unfortunately, I expect this bill will ultimately pass. In the unlikely event of a governor’s veto, it will probably just get overridden. The only solution is to challenge it in court. I hope Utah advocacy organizations are taking note, and preparing now for that fight. Ultimately, what a waste of Utah taxpayer’s money, In the meantime, sadly, it sounds like post-op trans people are going to have to dig into their files for their proof of SRS surgery if they want to transit the state with maximum peace of mind.
One other glimmer of hope is that maybe, due to the enforcement difficulties and the obviously cruel and nonsensical nature of this, confrontations and arrests will be rare to nonexistent once it actually goes into effect
I say, in states that pass these ridiculous laws, all of us cis-gender people start using bathrooms that don’t match our birth certificate, in protest. 😡
I was born in Utah. I learned to drive in Utah. I went to school in Utah. Every vacation my family ever went on was somewhere in Utah. I got married in Utah. My children were born in Utah. My grandparents are buried in Utah.
When this law passes, I'll never be able to safely go back. It's gutting.
So, if this bill goes into effect, shouldn’t we recruit people to go to many places, like the Utah legislative buildings, the airport, etc, and accuse everyone of not being the sex of the bathroom they are using? Make tens of thousands of accusations in a day and completely overwhelm the system? Make everyone need to show their genitalia to not be thrown in jail. Make sure every legislator who votes for this bill is accused multiple times. I assume there isn’t a specific penalty for making a false accusation. Basically do the real life equivalent of an internet denial of service attack. Make thousands and thousands of accusations. Most cis people don’t carry their birth certificate so they’d all be arrested and sentenced or brought in to court.
Erin is nominated for a GLAAD Media Award!!!
Outstanding Blog
Charlotte’s Web Thoughts
Erin in the Morning
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
LawDork
Mombian
Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
The Queer Review
The Randy Report
The Reckoning
The Rot Spot
They are going to get sued into the ground. And a good thing too. The only way red states are ever going to behave is to have their economic life blood sucked from them.
It's going to pass.
Slavery, Jim Crow, Hitler, Gay rights. Good job, Utah & fk you! You've got MY boycott. Never been to/thru that state and never plan on it.
For the purposes of this law, would trans people have to have bottom surgery? Is top surgery sufficient for trans men? It's wrong and ridiculous either way, but I am wondering what is considered "sufficient" if anyone knows and can share.
If these apes think they are going to keep us out of bathrooms we’ve been using most of our lives they have another thing coming we are way more intelligent then these rejects from the planet of the apes
So.....anyone can be accused of being transgender in the “wrong” bathroom huh? What’s to stop us from accusing them? Wouldn’t they have to submit to their own genitalia exam to prove that they are cis? 🙃
Moved away from NH. Happier in MA for now. Nice to know you!