I received an urgent call last week from one of my dearest transgender friends. He faced a horrible predicament.
Apart from being transgender, my friend suffers from a rare autoimmune illness that, when it flares up, requires intensive hospital care. There is only one hospital in Dallas that can treat him, and it is part of the University of Texas system, which means it is controlled by the state.
But now he fears going to that hospital because he has to be admitted through the Emergency Department, where there are no gender-neutral restrooms. There are men’s rooms and women’s rooms.
Mark Wingfield
That wasn’t a problem before, because my friend presents so much like a male you would be shocked if you saw him enter a women’s restroom. He has a full beard, for example.
But now our dear Texas Legislature — controlled by angry Republicans — has passed Senate Bill 8, the so-called “bathroom bill” it took them nine years to get through. They finally succeeded in their mission of ignorance-fueled hatred. And as a result, my friend can’t go to the hospital because he knows he’ll have no place to pee.
For those not keeping score at home, here’s how the Texas Tribune describes this bill: “SB-8 would restrict bathroom use in government-owned buildings, public schools and universities based on sex assigned at birth … . Bathroom bills proposing civil or criminal penalties for entering restrooms not matching biological sex have been proposed in Texas for more than a decade, and 19 other states have successfully passed their own proposals. The Texas House, however, has largely failed to garner traction for bathroom bills after a tense battle over one proposal in 2017. The Texas Senate has passed six different bathroom bills since 2017.”
Oh, and this: “A last-minute amendment from Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, raised the proposed fines to $25,000 against institutions where violations occur, and $125,000 for any subsequent violations. The raised penalties would make SB-8 the most financially punitive bathroom bill in the country. The amendment was adopted without debate.”
Pay attention to that detail: If my friend went to the Emergency Department and had to pee during his six- to 12-hour stay in the ED, he would scare people if he went into the women’s room or he could cause the hospital to be fined $25,000 if he goes to the men’s room. And the way the law is written, anyone can report the transgression. Any transphobic person who happens to be standing (or sitting) nearby.
“Those who wrote and passed this horrible bill want to erase transgender people from existence.”
Hopefully by now you’re thinking: “That’s awful! Surely there’s a workaround.” Nice try, but no there is not. There is not because the cruelty is the point.
Those who wrote and passed this horrible bill want to erase transgender people from existence. They want to pretend transgender people do not exist. They want to force them to “detransition” because they think being transgender is a made-up condition anyway.
As I have written repeatedly for the past nine years, not a single transgender person I know is faking it. They are legitimate and sincere and not a threat to anyone. And guess what? They need to pee just like everyone else.
The Texas bathroom bill and all those like it elsewhere are no different than putting a sign on the restroom door that says, “Whites Only.” If that doesn’t register for you, go watch the movie Driving Miss Daisy.
In Texas and elsewhere, Republican legislators have passed these cruel bills because we have let them. As Greg Garrett writes in his excellent piece today, it’s time for people who look like me and many of you to take to the streets. Clearly, legislators aren’t listening to the trans community and their allies, but they still do care about what “good Christian white people” think.
Next time you use a public restroom, think of my friend who can’t get medical treatment because there is no restroom for him at the state-controlled hospital. Imagine how you would feel, and if that makes you mad, get up off the toilet and do something about it.
My trans friends need us to stand up for them.
P.S.: If you live in Texas, today is the time to call Gov. Abbott’s office and demand that he not sign SB-8 as he is expected to do any day.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global and is the author of five books, including Honestly: Telling the Truth About the Bible and Ourselves and Why Churches Need to Talk About Sexuality.