By Penna Dexter
In the name of civil rights for transgenders, the White House wants men to feel free and comfortable walking into women’s restrooms. Disagreeing with that policy does not mean you’re against social justice for men who think they should be women. We should be more worried about stories like this one out of Chicago:
Police there say a man choked an eight-year-old girl until she passed out in the bathroom of a Jason’s Deli restaurant in Chicago’s South Loop. Reports vary. Some networks reported her mom allowed her to go in there alone. One said her mother was in a stall. But when the girl screamed the mom responded only to find a man carrying her unconscious daughter into a stall. This happened on May 7th. The perpetrator is obviously troubled. The little girl’s life will never be the same.
This is why we don’t want men in girl’s restrooms.
Declarations are being made by governors against the administration’s obvious overreach. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson advises schools to disregard the president’s decree altogether.
Alabama’s attorney general said, “ If the Obama Administration tries to enforce this absurd edict, I will work with other Attorneys General to challenge it.”
So what do we do? I live in Texas. And Texas is a good example of a state that’s come out with a strong and reasoned response. Really — 3 responses:
Some states will defy the directive. But first, it’s important to try to persuade the Administration to reverse its instructions to open school bathrooms and locker rooms to this assault on privacy. Texas’s Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said: “We are looking at every pathway to resist the federal government.” But, he continued, “At the end of the day, I believe, first we can get the administration to back off.”
The White House is saying to schools, if they don’t follow this guideline they’ll withhold school funding. In Texas, half of education funding goes to the nutrition program for kids who qualify for a free lunch and a free breakfast. If the feds follow through, Dan Patrick says “we’ll just say no to the money at the end of the day.” The state will find the money elsewhere.
What else is Texas doing? Preparing to take legal action. Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the Administration before. He says it had “better prepare for yet another legal fight.” North Carolina has already filed suit. Other attorneys general will join this effort.
Finally, Texas will look at passing protective legislation. Lt. Governor Patrick told the Daily Signal, “I’ve asked the school districts already to stand down, superintendents not to react; not to initiate policy. There are only a couple weeks left in school. Let’s work through this in the summer.”
Texas won’t be alone. Dan Patrick told the Daily Signal, “I’m going to urge that there is a total resistance state by state.”
No state should submit to this.
