https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/georgia-senator-vows-to-protect-girl
'On Feb. 6, a group of families met to lobby senators on issues affecting the
local transgender community in Georgia. One mother, Lena Kotler, decided to
take her two children with her to give the topic a human face. While waiting to
meet with Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson, who they had heard was a big supporter
of LGBTQ+ rights, another senator passed by — Republican Sen. Carden Summers,
the primary sponsor of the state’s bathroom ban bill. Little did he know that
one of the children he would be interacting with, Aleix, 8 years old, was a
transgender child.
According to Kotler and other families who were present, the senator stopped to
say hello. That’s when Kotler spoke to Senator Summers about how she was there
with her kids to “talk to legislators about keeping her kids safe.” Although
she did not mention that one of her children was trans, they were present with
LGBTQ+ signage - something the Senator apparently missed when he knelt down in
front of Aleix and said, according to Kotler, “Well you know, we’re working on
that and I’m going to protect kids like you.”
Kotler then replied, “Yeah - Aleix is trans, and she wants to be safe at
school, she wants to go to the bathroom and be safe.”
That is when, according to multiple witnesses, Sen. Summers stood up and
fumbled his words, repeating, "I mean, yeah, I'm going to make sure she's safe
by going to the right bathroom," continuing to use the correct pronouns for
Aleix. When asked if he would make her go to a boy's bathroom, he then
allegedly backed away, saying, "You're attacking me," turned around, and walked
off quickly.
The exchange was a unique encapsulation of why anti-trans bills that ban
transgender people from public spaces that match their gender identity have
proven ineffectual in the past. In numerous hearings over bathroom bans,
transgender people often point out that cisgender individuals cannot always
tell who is and is not trans. Enforcement of anti-trans policies like Sen.
Summer's bill, which would ban transgender youth from bathrooms of their gender
identity, will inevitably catch cisgender people who are gender nonconforming
in the same net. Worse, it would force transgender kids into the wrong bathroom
— kids who even the senator who wrote the bill innately realized he needed to
protect from bathroom harassment before learning the child was trans.'
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
