Who’s that sitting beside you?
by Tom Sullivan
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC.
Photo by HangingCurve via Wikimedia Commons.
Today is the deadline the U.S. Department of Justice has given the state of North Carolina to cease and desist in enforcing its HB2 transgender discrimination law. Reports suggest the state will defy the order.
State Rep. Paul Stam, one of the bill’s sponsors, told NPR this morning he hoped that the governor would stand firm against the federal government enforcing an “Obama-type” bathroom policy. Seriously.
After a Twitter debate with N.C. House Majority Leader Mike Hager about North Carolina’s HB2 transgender discrimination bill and whether the NBA All-Star Game would take place in Charlotte, former TV talk show host Montel Williams last week sent Hager a cake festooned with “#lovewins” and “#repealHB2” written in icing. Williams, a conservative who campaigned for Republican candidate John Kasich, opposes the law.
I was already thinking about illustrating the absurdity of HB2 with a sports analogy. But not with the game itself. My April 17 post on “intersex” babies noted that children are born with ambiguous genitalia at the rate of about 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 2,000. And that is only one of several forms of sex/gender variation. I cited intersex in talking about transgender discrimination because there is no questioning whether this is all in people’s heads. This is not what is derisively called “a lifestyle choice.” (When did you decide your were intersex?) It is a documented medical fact. Transgender is different and less understood, but several studies suggest that 0.3 percent of adults identify as transgender.
Here’s where the sports part comes in. At a capacity football game where the stadium holds roughly 80,000 fans — the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium holds 75,412 — then statistically, about 40 or more fans were born intersex (using 1 in 2,000). Where does the government propose these ambiguous-at-birth, paying customers flush their used beer and soda? How about Clemson’s Death Valley, South Carolina? You proposed a bill similar to HB2. Death Valley seats 81,500.
Again, statistically, another 240 paying customers standing in lines to use the Carolina Panthers’ restrooms during the game identify as transgender. Which one is that fan sitting beside you supposed to use, Gov. Pat McCrory? Men’s or Women’s? Can we put you on speed-dial to sort it out?