Alvin got it so right the other day when he highlighted the disingenuous nature of the way bigots fight.  And here from Massachusetts is a recent case in point.  It would be comical if the ramifications of their actions weren’t so harmful.  The Coalition for Marriage and Family* (CMF), which uses the scare tactic of “there’ll be sex predators in your daughter’s bathroom!!!” to fight the Trans rights bill (H 1728), is urging their militant minions in a 9/4/09 email to pester Massachusetts lawmakers with an AP story about a kid who is trying to make a difference and has inadvertently called their bluff.

Summer is winding down and our legislators will return to Beacon Hill next week, where committees could take action on a number of bills-including the Bathroom Bill (H. 1728).

Now news out of the state of Vermont reveals a push is on there to force high schools to create genderless bathrooms-regardless of the cost to cities and towns. Vermont advocates of same-sex marriage cite this as an “opportunity to again be the first in the nation,” as they were with the creation of civil unions.  Read the Associated Press report on this here.

Yes, do please read the article.  It is a heart-rending story about a trans high school student that has the unmitigated nerve to propose policy change in his state to improve the safety and learning atmosphere for other children.  Why do we force kids to take civics classes?  Certainly not to make them think they should ever exercise the principles of democracy in their own hamlet?  Good god, what is the world coming to!  Youth these days, I tell you…

Now where was I.  Oh yes.  This kid made a suggestion to the Civil Rights Commission that solves the “sex predator!!!” fake problem that is CMF’s main rallying cry.

A transgender teenager is lending his voice to a movement in Vermont to require the state’s middle and high schools to offer genderless bathrooms. … Gender-neutral bathrooms can be as simple as what are now considered handicapped accessible bathrooms that are in a single room, he said.

What, problem solved?  Can’t have that!  If the “sex predators!!!” scare tactic is successfully neutralized, CMF will be forced to scratch for another publicly acceptable way of not having to state their basic thesis, which is of course: “but we just hate queers so we don’t want them to have any rights.”

*The new title adopted by the Mass. Family Institute when the old one got too embarrassing due the mammoth failure of not stopping marriage equality.  So what do you do when a smart, civic-minded kid calls your bluff?  Well, if you’re CMF and desperate enough, you ignore that a fair solution has been proposed, and change the subject.  You ask legislators to ignore the present injustice and advise them to sit on their hands.

I think some fair-minded Bay Staters need to get on the phone to reassure their legislators that a) VT is lucky to have such a bright and public-minded kid working to find meaningful solutions, and b) they have full confidence that MA legislators are quite capable of thinking and acting independently in a timely manner because justice delayed is justice denied.

According to the CMF email writing gizmo, the relevant legislators are  Senator Steven Baddour, Representative Gene O’Flaherty, Representative Lewis Evangelidis, Senator Cynthia Creem, Senator Thomas McGee, Representative Daniel Webster, Senator Bruce Tarr, Representative John Fernandes, Representative Christopher Speranzo, Senator Gale Candaras, Senator Jack Hart, Representative James Fagan, Representative Katherine Clark, Representative James Dwyer, Representative Colleen Garry, Representative Danielle Gregoire, Representative Marie St. Fleur

The pre-fab text of their email blitz and the entire CMF email is below, for your reading pleasure.

Text that CMF is using to blitz legislators.

HB 1728 and the push to require genderless bathrooms in Vermont

As one of a dozen states that have passed a Bathroom Bill, activists in Vermont have begun the push to require public schools to create gender-neutral restrooms for transgendered students. Please read the Associated Press story on this here:

http://www.google.com/hostedne…  

Here in Massachusetts, supporters of H. 1728, the Bathroom Bill, argue that the legislation is needed to address situations pertaining to transgender citizens.

But passage of similar legislation in other states has NOT resolved any issues or provided clarity within the law. In the state of Maine, where transgender legislation has passed, a parental lawsuit was successful in obtaining a verdict that gender neutral bathrooms were not sufficient to uphold the rights of transgendered people.

But in Vermont, activists are pushing in the opposite direction-to obtain a decree that these bathrooms are required, regardless of the cost to municipalities.

The best course of action for Massachusetts is to wait and see how these debates play out in other states, and to study the Massachusetts legislation further, rather than rushing to pass it. Therefore, I urge you to send HB 1728 to study. Thank you.

Here’s the 9/4/2009 email:

Bathroom Bill Update: Another state, another story

Tell the Judiciary Committee about the Vermont push for genderless bathrooms

Dear friends,

Summer is winding down and our legislators will return to Beacon Hill next week, where committees could take action on a number of bills-including the Bathroom Bill (H. 1728).

Now news out of the state of Vermont reveals a push is on there to force high schools to create genderless bathrooms-regardless of the cost to cities and towns. Vermont advocates of same-sex marriage cite this as an “opportunity to again be the first in the nation,” as they were with the creation of civil unions.  Read the Associated Press report on this here:

http://www.google.com/hostedne…

Throughout the fight on the Massachusetts Bathroom Bill, we’ve asked you to email several pieces of information and news articles to the members of the Judiciary Committee.

When hundreds of voters contact them about a particular news story, the message gets through, and they know they must become at least somewhat familiar with the details of the story. At your urging, legislators often read the facts our opponents conceal from them, and are amazed at the real consequences of the Bathroom Bill legislation.

This happened when we asked you all to contact them about the situation in Maine-so please don’t stop there.

Click on the link below to tell the Jucidiary Committee about the Vermont AP story. The facts are there for our legislators to see, and they will read them at your urging.

Finally, if you see your legislator this Labor Day weekend, remind him about this story, that Massachusetts can’t afford to pay to alter school bathrooms, and that this legislation needs to be defeated.  Thank you.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:

http://www.votervoice.net/link…

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Related:

* Transgender Rights in Massachusetts – Show your support on July 14