The Truth About NC HB2

Everyone's gone completely crazy over this HB2 law here in North Carolina, and people are going, "We're boycotting North Carolina because they hate trans people!" I have just had enough of this. I wasn't gonna cover this because the whole thing is stupid, but it just keeps going on and on and on, and we need someone to try to put a little sanity into this issue so that maybe we can actually do some real good, as opposed to "We're boycotting stuff in North Carolina!"



Do you have any idea any idea how this law puts North Carolina ahead of the pack in most states? No, apparently you don't, because all you did was jump on a bandwagon: "Yes, I want to be liberal and tolerant and progressive and stuff so here's a great way to do this without really having to put in much effort."

I realized that all this was bogus when I broke with longstanding tradition in this country and actually read the law (radical, I know; it's not like politicians read a law before they pass it). The first thing about this bill is that private companies can do whatever they want. Walmart can set its own bathroom policy, and if you don't like it you can go to Target. This law is for bathrooms for departments and organizations under the state of North Carolina and any other institution running under its auspices, like cities and counties. Things had just gotten crazy, to the point where where you travel around the state and you had no idea what bathroom you were allowed to use! Sure, some places around the state had policies that were pretty progressive, but you also had some that were far worse, and the idea here is to get one law that applies throughout the state so that you can actually know which bathroom you can use without breaking the law.

Before I go any further, I should point out that there are two opposing ideas here: One is that people should be able to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with; even if you were born a man, if you identify as female then you should be able to use the ladies room. The other is that we don't want these male creepers coming into the women's room peeping on the ladies, which is actually what the Charlotte law that started all of this permitted, and people on both sides were opposing this. Progressives and SJWs say you can't have a cis man go into the ladies room because they're all Schrödinger's rapist and just can't help rape a woman if they catch a glimpse of her naked, or whatever. But it does mean that there were crazy laws that varied all over the place.

So let's look at HB2 and actually see what it does.

The first part deals with boards of education—basically, schools—and it adds a new section: §115C-521.2, and in paragraph B it says:

Single-Sex Multiple Occupancy Bathroom and Changing Facilities. – Local boards of education shall require every multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facility that is designated for student use to be designated for and used only by students based on their biological sex.

Okay, so that means that they hate trans people, right? Because that obviously means the sex you're born with, right? Or does it? What's the legal definition of "biological sex"?

Tell you what: we'll come back to that.

It also states in paragraph C:

Accommodations Permitted. – Nothing in this section shall prohibit local boards of education from providing accommodations such as single occupancy bathroom or changing facilities or controlled use of faculty facilities upon a request due to special circumstances, but in no event shall that accommodation result in the local boards of education allowing a student to use a multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facility designated under subsection (b) of this section for a sex other than the student's biological sex.

So they could have a special single occupancy bathroom for transgendered people if they want to. But, it is based on biological sex. Again, we'll come back to that.

We also have §143-760, which applies to public agencies instead of school boards, but it uses the same language. So here we have a consistent bathroom policy throughout the state—again, just for government facilities; businesses can put whatever policy they want to in place, and that's as it should be.

So, what is biological sex? Both §143-760 and §115C-521.2 define biological sex the same way:

The physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person's birth certificate.

Oh, well, that's it then, right? As long as you're born that way, that's it. You can never be transgendered.

Right?

Here's the thing, people, and you would have realized this if you bothered to do ten minutes of research on this issue: in North Carolina, you can change the sex on your birth certificate! Wow, what a concept! You just go down to the Register of Deeds with $27 and you can change it, and you can do it by mail and a few other ways as well.

Now, of course we don't want people just changing their birth certificates will-he nill-he, so there need to be criteria into place as to when and how that can be done. In North Carolina law, this is stated in a section of the General Statutes that has nothing to do with HB2 but was coded into law long ago: §130a-118 specifies all of the different ways that a birth certificate can be changed, such as changing your name. And you can even change your sex, according to paragraph (b)(4), when:

A written request from an individual is received by the State Registrar to change the sex on that individual's birth record because of sex reassignment surgery, if the request is accompanied by a notarized statement from the physician who performed the sex reassignment surgery or from a physician licensed to practice medicine who has examined the individual and can certify that the person has undergone sex reassignment surgery.

So there you have it: if you're a full transgendered person, then you just change your birth certificate. There actually aren't many states that allow you to do that! And California is worse than North Carolina in this regard: it requires a full court hearing, and the transgendered person has to pay the full court costs! This is what really pisses me off about this. It's kind of like when we had Amendment One a few years ago which was a referendum which banned gay marriage, which the voters approved after people basically spread around a lot of lies about what it really did. And lots of people were saying, "See? North Carolinians are a bunch of rednecks! They're a bunch of ignorant, toothless, inbred hayseeds!" But a couple of years earlier, California passed a pretty much identical referendum—in fact, this one was more explicitly anti-gay marriage. But people weren't saying that about California!

So here, we actually have in North Carolina one of the most progressive state-wide restroom policies in the country.

I've had a lot of discussions with people about this and tried to set them straight on the facts. It's amazing how woos of all types immediately shift gears when they're shown to be wrong! They started saying that a lot of people can't afford to have the operation, or some health issue prevents them from having it. Okay, fine, but now we're having a completely different conversation, aren't we? Now we're not talking about who should be able to use which bathroom, we're talking about who should be able to reassign their sex on their birth certificates.

And that's the thing that really gets me about this: you people are this close to getting what you want! If you think it's ridiculous to make people go through sex reassignment surgery to use the alternative bathroom, then why you want to do is change §130a-118. But if you don't have HB2, changing §130a-118 will do no good! You need HB2! So, come up with some better criteria for when someone should be able to change their birth certificate, and work to change §130a-118.

The secret to effective activism is: ready, aim, fire. And it's amazing how many people skip step two.

Another response is to point out that some people were born in other states, and not all states allow you to change the the sex on your birth certificate. Okay, but then your problem is with that state, not North Carolina! Can we please put ten minutes of thought into this?

So close. You are so close to getting what you want. Are you going to do it? Are you going to stop going against HB2? Are you going to welcome HB2 and redirect your energies into changing §130a-118?

Or is this not really about transgendered people after all? Is this really about you pushing your political agenda and getting Your Team in power and trying to hurt those on the other team and just using transgendered people as political fodder to do it? Is that what it's about? Do you want to show me wrong about that? Do you want to show me that's not what it's about? Then accept HB2 and instead advocate changing §130a-118. If you really believe what you say, then that's what you'll do.

So, is that what's going to happen now that the facts have been pointed out to you? Or is this just an opportunity to jump on the bandwagon, to go against people you don't like? Come on—"tolerance" my ass! It's not about tolerance. It's never about tolerance. Stop pretending. If I'm wrong, then you'll say, "Okay, I was wrong about HB2. HB2 is good. Let's change §130a-118." Are you going to do that?

I challenge you to do that. I dare you! You know what? I triple-dog-dare you!

(Ooh, serious breach of etiquette there, skipping right to the triple-dog-dare...)

Prove that you actually mean what you say. Prove that this isn't just some excuse for political posturing and bandwagoning and a way to puff up your side and make your side look good and wonderful and the others just hate people who are different. 'Cause I think that's what it is. But we'll see. If I'm wrong you'll accept HB2 and then turn to targeting §130a-118.

So, what are you going to do? Are you still going to go, "You want HB2 because you hate trans people!"? Because if you do it now, it's a lie. You know the truth now.

You could have done what I did. You didn't need me to point it out. So what are you going to do now that it has been pointed out and I've given you an better alternative?

It's up to you. It's always been up to you.

Are you going to do it? Do you really mean what you say about helping transgendered people?

I guess we're about to find out, aren't we?