Hate Not Here.

In recent months, it seems that one of the biggest social issues in the country is bathroom rights.

Though for many it seems to be a topic we understand and observe before entering elementary school, not all of us feel safe or comfortable in the restroom that society would have us use.

Trans rights are at the forefront of today’s social movements, and with states like North Carolina passing laws barring transgender citizens from using the bathrooms that match their identity and even physicality–instead dictating that they use the bathroom that matches their sex as listed on their birth certificate–more individuals and groups are speaking and acting out on both sides of the issue.

At a time when many are coming forward to support the trans community, others are merely fanning the flames of hatred to increase the transphobia that already exists in our society.

One hate group’s latest plot will make you worried about the state of our union…

The American Family Association

A self-defined “Christian organization promoting the biblical ethic of decency in American society” and concerned with the “moral issues that impact the family,” the American Family Association is a conservative non-profit based in Mississippi. It is also listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for being anti-LGBT.

Long known for their hate-mongering, the AFA relies heavily on boycotts as a form of protest.

The Bathroom Debacle

In recent months, as some states have passed or are preparing to pass legislation preventing transgender people from using the bathroom they feel most comfortable in, other states and organizations have come forward in protest, clarifying that they support the trans community in their fight for acceptance, personal comfort, and safety.

We’ve seen and studied what happened last time we tried segregating restrooms and other public spaces based on external physicality prior to the Civil Rights era, and yet here we are some 50 years later still dealing with similar problems of exclusion regarding the most basic of human rights. How far have we come, really?