The American media has done a bang-up job of disseminating transgender-rights activists’ agenda.
The American media has done a bang-up job of disseminating transgender-rights activists’ agenda. Together they’ve convinced society that America is populated with hateful bigots who systematically oppress transgender-identified people.
Headline after headline reports blatant, heartless discrimination against those who identify as transgender:
Transgender people are supposedly banned from participating in sports.
Transgender people are supposedly banned from using public bathrooms.
Shelters supposedly ban trans-identified homeless people.
Were these stories real, they’d reflect real cruelty.
But stories like these are fiction. These headlines espouse blatant lies. No transgender person has ever been banned from anything because of his or her transgender status.
Not one law has ever deprived transgender people the opportunity to participate in sports, use public bathrooms, or access homeless shelters. Laws have merely (merely?) required that all people participate in sports, use public restrooms, and access homeless shelters based on biological sex.
Men who want to wear lipstick and dresses have never been barred from accessing men’s public restrooms or men’s homeless shelters.
Women with short hair and unshaven armpits have never been denied the opportunity to compete in women’s sports.
When the media and trans-rights activists fabricate headlines like these, they engage in a deception called false dichotomy: they present only two options and imply that none other exists:
“Proposed law bans transgender people from sports” Fact: Transgender people have always been and still are allowed to compete in sports according to their biological sex.
“Bathroom bill restricts bathroom use by transgenders” Fact: Transgender people have always been and still are permitted to use the bathroom that corresponds to their biological sex.
“Homeless shelter refuses shelter to transwoman” Fact: Homeless shelters always have and still do welcome people into their facilities according to biological sex.
An enormous and meaningful difference exists between banning people from using a bathroom and banning them from using the bathroom of the opposite sex. An enormous and meaningful difference exists between banning people from participating in sports and banning them from competing against the opposite sex. An enormous and meaningful difference exists between banning people from homeless shelters and insisting that they sleep in shelters with others of their same biological sex.
The media understands this.
Transgender-rights activists understand this.
It’s time we all start demanding truth from the media on this subject, and it’s time we call deceptive headlines like these exactly what they are: LIES.
Erin Brewer & Maria Keffler are partners at Partners for Ethical Care. Contact the authors via support@partnersforethicalcare.com.