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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
Now that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is running for president (unofficially that is), he is backtracking from pro-gay legislation he signed:
To borrow a phrase, have your views evolved over time?
In 1993 I voted for a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodation, housing, and employment. That was 16 years ago.
Yes, gay-rights activists regarded you as a pretty cool guy at the time.
We overbaked that statute, for a couple of reasons. If I had to do it over again I would have changed some things.
Overbaked?
That statute is not worded the way it should be. I said I regretted the vote later because it included things like cross-dressing, and a variety of other people involved in behaviors that weren't based on sexual orientation, just a preference for the way they dressed and behaved. So it was overly broad. So if you are a third-grade teacher and you are a man and you show up on Monday as Mr. Johnson and you show up on Tuesday as Mrs. Johnson, that is a little confusing to the kids. So I don't like that.
Has the law been changed?
No. It should be, though.
So you want to protect kids against cross-dressing elementary-school teachers. Do you have any in Minnesota?
Probably. We've had a few instances, not exactly like that, but similar.
For the record, there have been cases of teachers who have returned to class after gender reassignment surgery, although I am not sure that any of them occurred in Minnesota. After initial fears and some trepidation, the schools, students, and parents adapted to the situation. And there have been cases of transgendered students who are as young as six.
So certainly the issue is complicated but the way Pawlenty tries to trivialize it as a way to flip flop on his earlier pro-lgbt stance is rude. It reveals not only a misrepresentation of non-discrimination laws but also a cynical willfulness to exploit ignorance of the transgendered community.
His stance is a combination of two ugly religious right factoids – the claim that non-discrimination laws will lead to an invasion of “cross-dressers” (a claim which has yielded hardly any success for the religious right. Maybe Pawlenty should have pulled the “they will invade women's bathrooms” card) and the claim that pro-lgbts laws in general will somehow put children in some type of danger (an old claim which, regardless of its failure or success, never fails to put people on edge.)
Generally though, when one eliminates the weasel words and the trumped up language, we are back at the time-honored lie that anything which moves the lgbt community forward will ultimately harm the children.
Because apparently “we recruit and indoctrinate.”
It's not necessarily the type of thinking I want from someone who wants to be my President. If it were, I would write in Anita Bryant on the ballot.
10 Comments
“not exactly like that, but similar”Uh huh – the ones I’m familiar with were transsexual high school teachers whose only inappropriate conduct was daring to exist.
Of course, I am aware of at least one proto-Larry Craig gay male teacher and tried to justify it by claiming that bathroom encounters are an accepted part of gay culture.
And yet…
‘Transsexuals are evil’ is the meme. Where would a clueless, neo-evangelical Palin-wannabe acquire such a meme?
Thank you – yet again – St. Barney.
… or write in Sarah Palin …… but then again, I don’t think she’s much for the mealy-mouthed weasel words. When she has a position, no matter how idiotic, she comes out and says it (to the glee of folks who follow such things).
Fear, fear, terror terror. Their script will never change. And why should it? It works. Scare the living bejesus outta folks and they’ll vote for you. And for some reason, a burly cross-dresser in a ladies room scares people. Don’t know why.
Have you ever been in a unisex restroom? It’s the coolest, and the way it should be anyway.
As for Pawlenty — did we ever really feel him anyway?
wellwell, he certainly protected his state from safe bridges, didn’t he..
douchbagPawlenty is such a douchebag. I have no idea why my fellow Minnesotans voted him in a 2nd time.
One of my old high school teachers might have been one of those ‘similar’ situations as she was Male to Female transgender teacher. I wonder if he keeps tabs. Probably there aren’t multitudes of transgender teachers in Minesota, so it would most likely be simple to keep track of all the ‘similar’ cases.
It’s always about “Mr. Johnson”
Someone should have played video clips of Giulliani in Drag behind Pawlenty as he spewed this sh*t
My worry about thisI’m not worried about Pawlenty being able to modify the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Pawlenty is right now a lame-duck governor who has had numerous clashes with the Legislature and is working from a party that is in the minority in both houses.
I am worried that this is going to be a new tack for Republicans – that they will offer to give some scraps of civil rights to GLb(t?) groups that support throwing trans people under the bus, most of which have shown few compunctions about doing that for lesser scraps in the past.
Actually, many Americans are familiar with unisex restroomsMost households in America have multiple bathrooms, but I have yet to see a bathroom in a private residence designated as “the Men’s room” or “the Ladies’ room”, like they tend to be in public spaces. I do like the “family room” in many public places, because that also allows fathers with daughters or mothers with sons to help their child in privacy without risking upset.
MaybeSadly I know some gay people who will eat that right up. But I will be there to tell them how stupid they are.
Good to knowIt was pretty clear that Pawlenty was this much of a jerk on trans rights, but it’s good to have confirmation. He’s so slick and dodgy that it’s often hard to tell what his real policies are.
I sincerely hope he doesn’t go anywhere other than a quiet retirement from public life. We don’t need him in Minnesota, or anywhere else.