Monthly Archives: November 2024

An Open Letter to Rep. Nancy Mace on the Subject of Bathrooms

Dear Representative Nancy Mace,

Room H-211 in the House of Representatives when it belonged to the speaker of the house. Later it became the parliamentarian’s office, and then the women’s restroom in 2011.*

I understand you want to prevent incoming Rep. Sarah McBride from using the bathroom. Specifically, the women’s bathroom, the one that was finally established next to the House floor in 2011, after nearly 100 years of women in the House who had to take a ten or fifteen minute break in order to reach the women’s room elsewhere in the building.

Since you presumably wouldn’t set up an entire bill to hurt people just out of malice, I gather you must genuinely fear for your safety.

So what are you afraid will happen to you if Representative McBride uses the same bathroom? That she will assault or harass you in some way? Why? Has she been accused of any sort of inappropriate behavior, that you know of? I can’t imagine her district would have elected her if she had had accusations of sexual assault hanging over her head. If she’d been a Republican, sure, but she ran as a Democrat. An openly transgender Democratic state senator, at that. She’d need to be squeaky clean to get elected to this position.

And why would you expect someone in her precarious position to harm one of her new colleagues, anyway? Surely that would lead directly to her ouster. And unless you think she campaigned for her position expressly to gain access to a bathroom of female Congresspeople to harass or assault exactly once, she has far too much at stake for that.

Okay, so maybe you’re not afraid of her saying or doing something to you. Are you afraid instead of her looking at you, or … thinking about you?

So, first, most people in bathrooms are thinking about going to the bathroom. If they think about other people, in my experience, it’s pretty much to worry about what others are thinking of them. In the case of trans people, it’s actually most likely to be whether they can pee in safety, not because of fear-mongering lies but because of actual statistics and actual experiences of being bullied and harassed.

Next, are you concerned that she’d be thinking about you in a sexual way, because she’s in a bathroom? That’s…very self-centered, really. I mean, anyone could be attracted to someone they encounter in a public space, but we don’t try to keep everyone out of public space because of that. Do you also want lesbians out of your bathroom? And bi women? What about straight women who happen to have the odd attraction they’re supposed to repress? How are you to know what they’re thinking?

If you’re thinking about other people’s sexual thoughts about you while peeing, without any evidence, that sounds like a “you” problem. Maybe you should be removing yourself from the situation and not bothering them.

Or do you just find it annoying and inconvenient to think worrisome thoughts about her while you pee, and you would rather she go away and not get to pee just so you don’t have to have some uncomfortable thoughts for a few minutes occasionally?

Perhaps, along the lines of Rosanne’s immortal TV response to her sister Jackie on going to a gay bar (“What if they think I’m gay?” “Well, then you could just think they’re gay right back at them!”), you could choose to think mean things about her while you’re both in there, and maybe that would help you feel better.

Or you could choose to think generous things, like maybe how hard it must be to be challenged all the time just for wanting to pee! (Because don’t think she wouldn’t be challenged or harassed if she went to the men’s room.) And how you’ve never experienced this kind of challenge in all the years you’ve used public bathrooms.

If you think that you personally would be safer if Sarah McBride used the men’s room, you presumably also think Sarah McBride would be safer if she used the men’s room? Right? Because you wouldn’t want to put a colleague in danger, right? Honestly, if you think the men’s room is safer for female-presenting people than the women’s room, then perhaps you’re the one who should be using it?

Statistically, trans people are vastly more likely to be the recipients of assault or harassment than to be perpetrators. Whereas 92% of sexual assault perpetrators are men. Why would you ask someone who is most likely to be victimized to go to the place where people are most likely to be perpetrators?

Oh, wait! You’re in Congress. Maybe Congress could pass a law saying that harassing or assaulting people is illegal! Or … maybe it already is.

(Or maybe not, since Marjorie Taylor-Greene has already threatened Sarah McBride with violence…)

One more thing: just to be absolutely clear, are you saying you’re okay with trans men using the women’s bathroom? Even if you can’t tell they’re trans? Just male-presenting people using the women’s room because they’re legally obligated to after all these bathroom bills? Will you commit to making sure not to challenge them on their right to be in your bathroom? Because if you won’t, then you’re not being honest, possibly with yourself, about your plans for trans people or about your own discomfort.

Finally, and I realise this is not really relevant, but it just seems so striking … I was looking up Rep. McBride’s background, and…are you really going after someone who ten years ago was widowed just four days after getting married, because you don’t want her to go to the bathroom? It seems somehow extra petty.

Thank you for your time. Some resources below.
Jennifer Sheffield

– https://juliaserano.medium.com/transgender-people-bathrooms-and-sexual-predators-what-the-data-say-2f31ae2a7c06 (includes specific studies and sources, including the following one)
– https://thinkprogress.org/study-debunks-bathroom-safety-concerns-over-transgender-equality-af932113a4fa/
– https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-look-at-womens-advances-over-the-years-in-congress
– https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/women-in-the-house-get-a-restroom/2011/07/28/gIQAFgdwfI_story.html

*Note: The photo comes from this document, but since I found it on a search, and it’s a single chapter from a book, I’m not sure what the source actually is.

A Fantasy Governmental To-Do List for the Next Two Months

Other Action Lists

– Susan Rogan (no relation to Joe Rogan) is posting daily actions people can take, including state-specific actions, on her Substack, Rogan’s List.
– There’s a website called 5 Calls (5calls.org) which allows you to filter by location and topic to bring up phone numbers of your representatives (national and/or state as relevant to the issue), plus detailed information and short scripts to use in calling.

My List

– Nominate and confirm more judges everywhere.
Action Item! The Federal Court currently has 47 judicial vacancies, with 17 nominees pending, and there are also 20 future vacancies, with 11 nominees currently pending. If you have a Democratic senator (or two), please call them and urge them to fast-track hearings and confirmations for these nominees, and to work on filling the other vacancies.*

– Protect all wildlife areas at the southern border. In fact, negotiate international agreements with Mexico to do it.

– Dissociate the government/NASA/communications from Starlink and muskrats (nothing against actual muskrats). Can the government end these contracts?

– On every sign saying “Project funded by Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” include the names of local representatives who voted against it (which would have been better done before the election, but alas I didn’t think of it).

– Endure all DT appointments go through the proper Senate confirmation process.
Action Item! Contact your senators, regardless of party, and demand that they not allow recess appointments at this critical time, so that nominees can get a fair hearing. If you like, you can join the Democratic Coalition’s letter-writing campaign for this. (11/14/24)
Action Item! Bring Matt Gaetz to Justice, not the Justice Department. Let’s be sure to call our senators and tell them to vote no on Gaetz for Attorney General, and pull out all the procedural stops to block his nomination. Let’s also contact the Democrats serving on the Ethics Committee and urge them to ensure the public sees whatever damning information they have found before any confirmation vote, whether by reading the report into the Congressional Record or leaking it to the press. (11/14/24) We can reach them here:

Rep. Susan Wild (PA, Ranking Member) – 202-225-6411
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA) – 202-225-2095
Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX) – 202-225-4831
Rep. Glenn Ivey (MD) – 202-225-8699
Rep. Deborah Ross (NC) – 202-225-3032

– Protect our personal data from seizure without a warrant (source: ACLU)
Action Item! The ACLU is organizing public comments before December 16 on proposed legislation known as the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. (Note: Because I was curious about whether we could make our own comments, I went to the public register website and was unable to find anything relevant. If you find out, let me know!)

– Halt arms to Netanyahu’s government; motivate a ceasefire and an agreement with Hamas. (Not sure how to motivate Hamas, who, just like Netanyahu, clearly value the war above their own people’s safety.)
Possible Action Item?
Earlier today, someone posted a petition from J Street, known as “the political home of pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans,” urging the government to sanction certain Israeli ministers. I now can’t find it, and the petitions I can find are not dated. However, I do see press releases on this subject and a number of others from the past few days. Maybe that petition is over, but there may be more. (11/15/24)

– Make it very, very clear, in all the press, that once again, Trump is inheriting an amazing economy from Biden, just as he did from Obama. (Not stock market but wages, jobs, employment, manufacturing, supply chains.)
Action Item! The to-do item is for the White House but also for the press, so the action item is for contacting your news sources — letter to the editor, emailing journalists you read, comments to people you follow on Twitter or Bluesky, etc. — asking them to do not just an article but a series, before January, on the Biden/Harris economy, including their work on supply chains, the manufacturing jobs from their wide-ranging legislation, higher wages, union support, the soft landing, etc., and to include projections of the ongoing effects this work will have over the next few years. Explain, if you want to, that you want this to be out there to counter the push of the next administration to claim credit.

– Save all White House web pages.

– Protect our right to dissent and organize.
Repeat Action! House is planning to vote again.
From the ACLU: “This broad, vague bill is an open invitation for abuse…a bill that would give the incoming Trump administration a new tool they could use to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish groups that disagree with them.”
While one section gives tax relief to Americans held hostage, another section gives the Secretary of the Treasury the discretion to declare tax-exempt organizations to be terrorist organizations. (So when I called, I said I was urging my rep to vote no based on that part in particular) (Updated 11/15/24)

Action Item Successful: H.R.9495! See description

Tell your representatives in the House to vote against H.R.9495.
From the ACLU: “This broad, vague bill is an open invitation for abuse…a bill that would give the incoming Trump administration a new tool they could use to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish groups that disagree with them.”
While one section gives tax relief to Americans held hostage, another section gives the Secretary of the Treasury the discretion to declare tax-exempt organizations to be terrorist organizations. (So when I called, I said I was urging my rep to vote no based on that part in particular).

– Raise the cap on the House of Representatives to restore some balance to the electoral college, if we must have it … and if we still have it.

– Expand the Supreme Court and nominate people to serve. Rush the hearings. (Tricky part: Manage this without leaving seats open.)

Well, and if we’re doing fantasy:
– Declare that every law that is passed henceforward must have a clear training portion and no vagueness. If doctors are to make decisions between healthcare and 99 years in jail, they must be told exactly what circumstances are legal or illegal and when they can use their own judgement, none of that “oh, of course we didn’t mean that” afterward. If books are to be banned, they must have transparent, exact standards so that everyone knows and there is no guessing. If families are to be separated, then the roles of everyone involved must be clear and trackable. If people are arriving in the US by airplane and are suddenly banned from arrival while they’re in the air, don’t leave it up to random TSA or airport personnel how to manage them.

Further Actions and Resources:

– Susan Rogan (no relation to Joe Rogan) is posting daily actions people can take, including state-specific actions, on her Substack, Rogan’s List.
– Elizabeth Warren has a plan. Most of it is broad and procedural, but I’m pleased to see one of her two specific directives is already on my list.
– Here is a cautionary tale, with one takeaway: everyone in government who can push back on or question a policy idea as soon as it comes up must commit to doing so. PBS transcript, How a Trump-era policy that separated thousands of migrant families came to pass.

Updates of work in place:

– I’ve read that Biden is locking in the distribution of funds for the Inflation Reduction Act!
The main source I’ve found is not from this week but from Politico in September.
– Success in first vote! H.R.9495, the “Terror Financing” bill, failed to reach 60% in the House. Alas, in second vote, they needed only a majority, and they had it.

___________
* Thanks to Karen Escovitz and Kate Hellenga for bringing this action to my attention.

Enthusiasm for Kamala Harris: more lists

Word Matters … Because Words Matter

A blog on words and the work they do, by Jennifer Sheffield