Dusting Off My Soapbox

As I write, the State Senate in my state is debating a "bathroom" bill. Once again, it seems there are a bunch of guys trying to poke their noses into everyone's private business.

I wonder if any of these (mostly) men have ever seen inside a public woman's facility. I know I haven't seen a public man's bathroom, except in movies. I can tell you one thing. Women aren't like men; they don't stand next to each other in the open and let it all hang out, so to speak, to do their business. We (females) have little cubicles that, unless the door is broken, provides enough privacy. I am 70 years old, and I have never, in all those years, seen a woman disrobe in a public restroom. If a man did come into the ladies' room, he would probably be surprised to see nothing more than hand washing, hair combing, and freshening of lipstick. In fact, I seldom see anything other than hands being washed. I can't think that any woman would object to having anyone--men, women, children, gays, transgenders, etc.--seeing this hand washing ritual. Somehow I don't think that a gay man would find the acts of grooming and hygiene titillating. In fact, I don't think a transgender man would be interested either. Of course, a cross-dresser could be interested, but's that a whole other question. Can you imagine a cross-dresser dressed in his favorite alternative outfit walking into a man's restroom? What would the good senators who know what's best for everyone say when the cross-dresser (who is probably not gay) explains that he was prevented from using the women's room by law.

In the local news today, there was an article about a local sheriff addressing a group of conservatives. He said that if a male (of any ilk) went into the bathroom with his wife or granddaughter, he would whip his tail. He also said, "Sin is sin, I don't care what it is. He even admits to having a gay in his family, and he gives him hugs (gasp!) Perhaps he sees the whole bathroom law as southern gentleman chivalry. I think I prefer respect to chivalry in most cases. The sheriff several times referred to females as "chicks."To me, that is not chivalrous or respectful.

The whole "bathroom" legislation is just silly and unnecessary. It is an excuse for some people to force the whole population to conform to their ideas of how we should all live. Those who are of a different religion, race, or sexual orientation have to be legislated out of existence. Now that I think about, maybe it not silly--it's darned scary!