Opinion

Transgender issue is pure fiction

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at the Republican Party of Texas State Convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, on May 12 in Dallas. He has called for a cut in what he says is a back-door tuition hike — a move that will affect financial aid for disadvantaged students. less Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at the Republican Party of Texas State Convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, on May 12 in Dallas. He has called for a cut in what he says is a back-door tuition ... more Photo: Rodger Mallison /TNS Photo: Rodger Mallison /TNS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Transgender issue is pure fiction 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Texas should focus on problems that exist, not on those that don’t and are never likely to.

Welcome to the latest permutation in our ongoing culture wars — the transgender community and which bathrooms it uses.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently said he supports keeping people who are listed as males on their birth certificates out of women’s bathrooms, even if it takes legislation to accomplish this. Patrick is the Senate president and it’s likely that someone will submit yet another “potty” bill to please him.

He doubled down afterward, trying to impose his will on a local school district whose superintendent is allowing transgender students to use the restrooms that fit their gender identity. He demanded the resignation of superintendent Kent Paredes Scriber and staged a press conference before a school board meeting of the Fort Worth Independent School District on Tuesday. And what did he urge of the board? Discrimination against an already besieged group among other things.

That’s how the federal government views it. The administration is reportedly preparing a directive instructing school districts to allow students to use restrooms according to their gender identity. While this would not have the force of law, it is a signal that the federal government could sue districts who veer from this policy.

Patrick was among the first to condemn the directive, declaring that this means the end of public education as we know it. He is wrong on a couple of levels. First, for scaremongering on a non-issue — transgenders now use public restrooms of their choice unnoticed and without incident — and second for intruding on local affairs. He argues that the federal directive is a better example of such intrusion. But the sad fact is that the federal government is often the protector of last resort in matters of discrimination when states fail to act or when the states are, in fact, what citizens need to be protected from.

Last year, Houston voters approved an ordinance that repealed HERO, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. To help win the day, repeal supporters raised the specter of cross-dressing sexual predators assaulting wives and daughters in public restrooms.

If Texas approves legislation that mandates that people use only the restroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate, it will be following North Carolina. That state’s actions drew drew national protest and business backlash.

Patrick says no such backlash occurred in Houston. But we’re certain it will occur if Texas acts. North Carolina has suffered economic harm and has been sued by the federal government, which says it can withhold federal funds for violating civil rights. Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott, who is backing North Carolina’s move, invite the same sort of risk for Texas if they block transgender rights.

But the arguments do not center solely on the pocketbook. It is about singling out an already misunderstood and demonized community for more scaremongering and stigmatization.

This is real. It is not a a lifestyle choice, the fashionable description used at one time for gays and lesbians. And, just as gay men were often falsely depicted as predators, so, too, are transgender people in this case.

Who, by the way, is going to be monitoring genitalia at the bathroom door? If this were a real threat, you’d think real predators would long ago have started donning dresses. And aren’t women who are listed as males on their birth certificates exposing themselves to the risk of sexual assault if they use the men’s restroom?

In important respects, transgender people genuinely don’t feel they are the gender their birth certificates say they are. But they’re there solely to use the restroom in any case.

Eighty-two percent of sexual assault victims know their attackers. Stranger rape is at 18 percent. But supporters of such bills have trouble coming up with instances in which transgender predators have fulfilled that stranger-rape scenario in restrooms.

The Texas Legislature should defy Patrick and move on to real problems.