This is the first place I've seen it argued that the trans people angry at Ms. McBride's position should support her by heading to the Capitol bathrooms. I agree that some folks aren't listening to exactly what she said.
I know she has her own private restroom as a member of Congress, but: My personal daydream is seeing Sarah McBride waltz her fine ass into the men's room and get busy touching up her makeup, all while chattering brightly to the guys standing at the urinals trying to pee.
i'm pissed that sarah mcbride has to face attacks on all sides. she doesn't deserve it, and i appreciate your impassioned defense of her.
but "a will to fight that could only be described as French"? please drop this idiotic turn of phrase. the french government's refusal to follow bush II's exploits in irak should never have been a source of ridicule.
I wish the Republicans would just admit they want to run into a bathroom marked for women and shout "show me your penises!" In fact, I encourage them to do that and see how it works out.
"So let’s give McBride a chance to work, a chance to develop reputation and influence. She needs to do some very careful relationship building now. Instead of sabotaging that or criticizing her for being a politician considering politics, we need to either support her against the very personal attacks she has faced or at the very least get the fuck out of the way."
This was my take. She's gotten herself elected to the US freaking House. Maybe we should trust her judgment on which fights to pick and which ones to let roll off her back. It's fine to be a radical activist, we need radical activists. But radical activists don't often get elected so they need to do their thing and they need to let her do hers.
Caught a ride home from Seattle with a pair of noxious relatives and one supportive one a few hours ago. They were engaged in a discussion about the composition of the armed services and trans folks participating in government. The whole thing was ignorant, and I chose to remain silent. I thought about what you wrote here while they were speaking. I didn't have the energy to engage with it, and what I had to say would have resulted in hitchhiking. Thank you. There's more than one way to fight, and more than one time.
Today I'm covering Trump's threatened executive order that would de-trans the military. Sometimes it doesn't make it in the same day (writing and editing take time, and the story just dropped -- the Times of London got the scoop about 12 hours ago), but look for it soon.
I took Congresswoman McBride's responses to this bullshit as her trying to do her job, avoiding wading into a verbal fight she cannot win no matter what she says, pointing out the utter insanity of freaking out where she pees by being totally ok, cool, whatever, freak out, don't, but I'll be over here working and timing my pee breaks for whenever Mike Johnson needs to go in an act of malicious compliance. There will be nothing Mace can do the first time a trans man uses the women's restroom when she is in there, because he is doing what she demanded, using the bathroom of his assigned at birth sex. My Republican Congress critter campaigned on protecting cis women from trans women, so I plan on letting him know exactly how I feel about his bullshit attempts to "protect" me while hurting others.
Great is the power of idiots when the people elect them to high office. McBride is simply recognizing that brute fact; I wouldn't blame her in the least for not confronting the idiots directly and instead just trying to do her job.
I propose all trans supportive, Cis-gendered women in every government building where this idiocy is supported, just use the men’s bathroom and dare them to force a view of the offending appendage. I don’t have a penis, but I’m willing to pretend that I do in support of transgender women!!
That's what I was thinking, too. "Sorry, there was a clerical error on my oRiGiNaL bIrTh CeRtIfIcAtE so my biological sex was incorrect. But since your resolution requires it, here I am."
Thank you for this! I especially love that you’re calling out how the rest of us can be part of the same work as Sarah McBride, even if ours doesn’t look like hers.
I will probably never shut up about Daniel Hunter’s “Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow” but seriously, your story about Gail Shibley is such a perfect example of Rebels and Advocates working together.
Anyway, McBride being the adult in the room is the best she could have done with the situation. She can put up a much more effective fight if she plays by the rules.
The alternative would be that she gets bogged down in fights over rules, and I guarantee you that the same people would be up in arms once that happened.
well we knew it was coming - the purity ponies who want to focus on the little things (bathroom culture war!!!) instead of the big things (elected to do a job not be dragged into petty shit) - i've said it before - she's right to rise above the pettiness and focus on the work - let her accomplishments be her answer
I hate how this ban is an attempt at attacking her dignity. I LOVE that she won't allow them to take it from her. In her position, she recognizes that there are bigger fish to fry, and that she won't be sidelined by this petty, hateful action by truly awful people. So she will comply with the rules as written and passed down by the guy who needs to have his urges to watch porn and masterbate monitored by his son because that's a totally normal and Christian thing to do, rather than opening up his heart and mind to the fact that trans people are here, there, and everywhere. She is a democratically elected member of Congress, and she is there, representing. Her very presence there makes her the victor every single day! Sometimes, you have to choose your battles wisely, and I think she did just that.
This is the first place I've seen it argued that the trans people angry at Ms. McBride's position should support her by heading to the Capitol bathrooms. I agree that some folks aren't listening to exactly what she said.
I know she has her own private restroom as a member of Congress, but: My personal daydream is seeing Sarah McBride waltz her fine ass into the men's room and get busy touching up her makeup, all while chattering brightly to the guys standing at the urinals trying to pee.
i'm pissed that sarah mcbride has to face attacks on all sides. she doesn't deserve it, and i appreciate your impassioned defense of her.
but "a will to fight that could only be described as French"? please drop this idiotic turn of phrase. the french government's refusal to follow bush II's exploits in irak should never have been a source of ridicule.
I wish the Republicans would just admit they want to run into a bathroom marked for women and shout "show me your penises!" In fact, I encourage them to do that and see how it works out.
OT:
"What should we do about homeless encampments?"
"Let them stay there."
"You mean be kind to them?"
"Yep."
Another Nice Times story, this time out of Halifax, in Canada.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wq7l1lnqpo
Is so unfair. And yet MTG, who has a history of aggressive behavior in the ladies room, is allowed is wee in any ladies can she wants.
"So let’s give McBride a chance to work, a chance to develop reputation and influence. She needs to do some very careful relationship building now. Instead of sabotaging that or criticizing her for being a politician considering politics, we need to either support her against the very personal attacks she has faced or at the very least get the fuck out of the way."
This was my take. She's gotten herself elected to the US freaking House. Maybe we should trust her judgment on which fights to pick and which ones to let roll off her back. It's fine to be a radical activist, we need radical activists. But radical activists don't often get elected so they need to do their thing and they need to let her do hers.
Caught a ride home from Seattle with a pair of noxious relatives and one supportive one a few hours ago. They were engaged in a discussion about the composition of the armed services and trans folks participating in government. The whole thing was ignorant, and I chose to remain silent. I thought about what you wrote here while they were speaking. I didn't have the energy to engage with it, and what I had to say would have resulted in hitchhiking. Thank you. There's more than one way to fight, and more than one time.
Today I'm covering Trump's threatened executive order that would de-trans the military. Sometimes it doesn't make it in the same day (writing and editing take time, and the story just dropped -- the Times of London got the scoop about 12 hours ago), but look for it soon.
I took Congresswoman McBride's responses to this bullshit as her trying to do her job, avoiding wading into a verbal fight she cannot win no matter what she says, pointing out the utter insanity of freaking out where she pees by being totally ok, cool, whatever, freak out, don't, but I'll be over here working and timing my pee breaks for whenever Mike Johnson needs to go in an act of malicious compliance. There will be nothing Mace can do the first time a trans man uses the women's restroom when she is in there, because he is doing what she demanded, using the bathroom of his assigned at birth sex. My Republican Congress critter campaigned on protecting cis women from trans women, so I plan on letting him know exactly how I feel about his bullshit attempts to "protect" me while hurting others.
Great is the power of idiots when the people elect them to high office. McBride is simply recognizing that brute fact; I wouldn't blame her in the least for not confronting the idiots directly and instead just trying to do her job.
I propose all trans supportive, Cis-gendered women in every government building where this idiocy is supported, just use the men’s bathroom and dare them to force a view of the offending appendage. I don’t have a penis, but I’m willing to pretend that I do in support of transgender women!!
That's what I was thinking, too. "Sorry, there was a clerical error on my oRiGiNaL bIrTh CeRtIfIcAtE so my biological sex was incorrect. But since your resolution requires it, here I am."
I love this article. Excellent analysis and explanation of the issue combined with a framework for support.
The only thing missing is a link to Rep. McBride's campaign fund - bottom of the page so scroll down. https://www.sarahmcbride.com/
Thank you for this! I especially love that you’re calling out how the rest of us can be part of the same work as Sarah McBride, even if ours doesn’t look like hers.
I will probably never shut up about Daniel Hunter’s “Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow” but seriously, your story about Gail Shibley is such a perfect example of Rebels and Advocates working together.
Separate and unequal like in the good old days!
Anyway, McBride being the adult in the room is the best she could have done with the situation. She can put up a much more effective fight if she plays by the rules.
The alternative would be that she gets bogged down in fights over rules, and I guarantee you that the same people would be up in arms once that happened.
well we knew it was coming - the purity ponies who want to focus on the little things (bathroom culture war!!!) instead of the big things (elected to do a job not be dragged into petty shit) - i've said it before - she's right to rise above the pettiness and focus on the work - let her accomplishments be her answer
I hate how this ban is an attempt at attacking her dignity. I LOVE that she won't allow them to take it from her. In her position, she recognizes that there are bigger fish to fry, and that she won't be sidelined by this petty, hateful action by truly awful people. So she will comply with the rules as written and passed down by the guy who needs to have his urges to watch porn and masterbate monitored by his son because that's a totally normal and Christian thing to do, rather than opening up his heart and mind to the fact that trans people are here, there, and everywhere. She is a democratically elected member of Congress, and she is there, representing. Her very presence there makes her the victor every single day! Sometimes, you have to choose your battles wisely, and I think she did just that.
There was an article in the NYT with voters talking about how Republicans “spoke to them”
I hope they all suffer when we lose our Democracy