I would rather discuss almost anything else than assaults on the rights of transgender people to simply exist in public, but the Republican party has made us their primary target in an attempt to relitigate the anti-gay culture war of previous decades.
Dozens of Republican-controlled legislatures have considered anti-transgender legislation this year but Alabama has now become the third state to officially adopt a ban on providing health care to transgender children. But Republicans in Alabama are also taking another shot at banning transgender girls from using appropriate restrooms through a so-called "bathroom bill" that also bans any mention of transgender people in schools.
One of the bills makes it a felony for medical professionals to provide gender-affirming medical care people under 19.
[Governor Kay Ivey's] signature makes Alabama the third state in the country to pass a measure restricting transition-related care, though it is the first state to impose criminal penalties.
Ivey said in a statement that she signed the bill because she believes that "if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl." [...]
Ivey also signed another bill that will bar transgender students from using sex-segregated school facilities that align with their gender identities and will prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-5 — adopting language used in a bill recently signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
It's obviously wrong to pass laws based on what the "Good Lord" says in your revised holy book of choice, but I'm going to turn that around and say this is actually blasphemy.
If the Good Lord created all of us, that means he created me, too, and I am a woman regardless of what some geriatric conservative lawmaker says. Whoever you swear fealty to as your lord created gay people, and transgender people, and people of all races and nationalities. Your so-called lord even created liberal democrats! Gasp! Did the Good Lord make a mistake?
I am not religious, but the average conservative religious person has a peculiar habit of picking and choosing who has or has not been blessed; who does or does not count. They believe God created all things except me. Their exclusionary gospel makes me feel more spiritual than they are and I am the middle-aged trans woman who hasn't stepped inside a church in 30 years.
Transphobia is the last acceptable form of homophobia and Republicans across the country are only making us the center of their culture war because they believe they can get away with it and they're probably right. Transgender people are a very small minority (about 1 percent of the general population) and the truth is most people have never met one of us, talked to us, or cares about us. We're an easy target that no one is going to sacrifice for. The average liberal cares more about their student loans than what happens to transgender girls who probably couldn't go to school anyway.
That is my frank assessment of the situation and it has forced me to take breaks from even paying attention a few times to protect my own mental health.