As part of the Trump administration’s never-ending race to the bottom, this week they rescinded federal guidance that mandated trans youth have access to the correct bathrooms and changing rooms at schools. Their cowardly excuse was “states’ rights” but the truth is that reversing protections for trans people – students especially – have been at the top of the conservative agenda for quite some time.
One of the many abhorrent things about this is the way the right invokes the protection of women as an excuse to discriminate against a marginalized community: they insist that women and girls will be in danger if trans women are allowed to be in the same bathroom. Nevermind that it’s trans people who are at increased risk for violence in public spaces, bathrooms especially.
So yeah, this week has been bad.
Glass half full
Protests broke out across the country in response to the rollback of trans kids’ rights, but the one in front of the historic landmark Stonewall Inn is what really made my heart full. Thousands showed up to remind America that when trans youth are under attack, we “stand up, fight back.”
What I’m RTing
Surprise! Uber is a terrible place for women to work. https://t.co/uwKoAglKpp
— Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen) February 19, 2017
Think back to that kid in high school who was a little different, & suffered for it. Trump admin basically just said, "Yeah, fuck that kid."
— Jen Richards (@SmartAssJen) February 23, 2017
a third of transgender students are avoiding eating or drinking. a THIRD. so they don't have to use the bathroom. https://t.co/XOxmIDFveB pic.twitter.com/lgtljoxzSI
— kaye toal (@ohkayewhatever) February 23, 2017
“She’s not being given treatment even though her nose continues to bleed. She could lose her life" https://t.co/JgoW8Zo07r by @C_Sommerfeldt
— SPLC (@splcenter) February 23, 2017
Who I’m reading
Janet Mock on the truth of what these “bathroom laws” really mean; Carmen Maria Machado on being a woman who takes up space; and Susan J Fowler on her time at Uber, where she claims sexual harassment and discrimination was out of control.
What I’m writing
A certain British self-identified professional provocateur had a no good, very bad week but let’s not forget that our president is way worse than this now-exiled writer could ever be.
How outraged I am
Reading about the random ID checks that are happening on flights – domestic flights! – has me more depressed than furious, I’m afraid. This is not what our country is about.
How I’m making it through this week
Straight up fantasizing about living on another planet – which apparently isn’t as unrealistic as it used to be!
