I think that there are a few things that we should keep in mind when considering this recent spate of legislation and, more importantly, how one might react to it. It's an election year, and a truly crazy one at that. By and large, these initiatives are designed to pander to the Christian right, and, for the most part, are restricted to right leaning, largely Southern states. The laws, in and of themselves, will have scant impact on how transgendered people will be treated in those states or within the Nation at large. The trope that is employed by the proponents of these bills is that they are necessary to protect women from the imaginary threat of the sex crazed "guy in a dress" using the ladies room as his hunting grounds. The reality is that these legislative initiatives and indeed even pro TG rights initiatives will have a negligible impact on how people actually think and feel. TG people having been using their preferred public accommodations largely unnoticed for many years.....and they will continue to do so. Why? Because, for the most part, they have done so in a discrete and low key fashion. This flap will fade away.....until the next one. The overwhelming majority of Americans are too absorbed with the challenges of simply living their daily lives to even think about these issues much less even care. Bigots will always be bigots and our community needs to not overreact to them and to simply do what we have always done - go about our lives in a calm and discrete manner.
