In the last several weeks, women have unleashed a tidal wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against some of our most trusted, and favorite politicians, news anchors, and entertainers. The accused form a diverse group of men from all different backgrounds and political ideologies leaving many Americans wondering whose career will be next on the chopping block. But as varied as the alleged predators may appear, there is one theme that unites them—one commonality that they all share: none of these creeps are members of the transgender community.
A nonexistent threat
It must come as a shock to America’s political right that not one of these accused perverts is a member of the trans community. To hear Republicans talk about them, you would think transgender Men And Women are an unholy sex cult who won’t stop until all of our public bathrooms resemble the pawn shop basement from “Pulp Fiction.” In fact, Republicans are so scared of the trans community; they fall just below ISIS on the conservative list of things with the most potential to destroy America.
In case you were wondering what the rest of that list looks like, here is a snippet:
- ISIS
- Transgender women and men
- Colin Kaepernick
- CNN
- Universal Healthcare
- Alabama electing a Democratic Senator
- The Congressional Budget Office
- Facts
- Hillary Clinton doing absolutely anything (including reheating food)
- Recycling
(Climate change and gun violence are 15,000 and 15,001 on the list right after Bigfoot uprising.)
But here is the thing about the trans community—the dirty little secret Republicans don’t want you to know: there is zero evidence that transgender men and women are a threat to anybody.
There is a lot of evidence, however, that transgender men and women want to live their lives free of undeserved persecution, false stereotypes, and being denied access to the bathroom.
Some good can come of this
The recent accusations of sexual harassment have exposed a dark side of America that sadly, many knew about but were either powerless to come forward or were outright accused of lying or fabricating.
This is a dark time for the country, but hopefully, it will bring about some much-needed changes—particularly these three changes:
- A long overdue Female President
If we have learned anything in 2017, it is that we need more women in power. Women make up half the population, so one would think that half of our presidents would be women.
Instead, America has elected as many lizard presidents as women. Much like gun violence, this issue seems to be unique to America as most industrialized nations have elected female leaders. Even Pakistan has elected a female leader. Pakistan! What is wrong with us? This might be a non-issue if men had been doing such a bang-up job, but considering our current president isn’t entirely sure whether or not Frederick Douglas is alive, it’s hard to make that argument.
- Men finally learning to respect women
People thought that making new employees watch those corny sexual harassment videos would solve the problem forever, but it didn’t quite yield the results we had expected. Men need to make a lot of changes concerning the way we treat women.
This should start with unwanted physical contact and exposure, but it should extend to the way we talk about women when they aren’t around, the jokes we tell at women’s expense, and the absurd belief many men still hold that women are somehow inferior.
- No longer scapegoating the transgender community
America, and more specifically Republicans, owe this group a massive apology. Transgender men and women have been ridiculed, targeted by hate groups, and labeled as pedophiles (occasionally by actual pedophiles like Roy Moore. Oops, I meant accused pedophiles like Roy Moore.) And while our “leaders” were doing their best to spread lies and fear about these poor people, the real predators have been right in front of us—producing our movies, giving us the news, and holding elected office (including the presidency).
So next time Republicans want to create a Bathroom Bill aimed at protecting women and children, perhaps they should add the group that has always been the most significant threat: prominent straight men.
