It Is More Than Words

It takes a lot more than words to get me to believe they have turned over a new leaf.

Rick Santorum and the GOP's Transgender Tolerance Movement
Bloomberg
By David Weigel
May 2, 2015

“We now don't care that you're transgender, because the fact that you're a Republican is yuk,” said radio host Rush Limbaugh, imitating an intolerant liberal. “How could you dare? You can't be a legitimate transgender and be a Republican.”

That quote foreshadowed another unexpected phenomenon: The conservative response to Jenner is somewhere between an embrace and a shrug. When the gossip site TMZ ambushed Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Mormon Republican said he wasn't going to “sit around and judge” Jenner.
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“You know, if he says he's a woman, then he's a woman,” said Santorum, trailing off a little at the end of the sentence. “Look, this is an issue—my responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are. I can criticize, and I do, for what people do, for their behavior. But as far as for who they are, you have to respect everybody, and these are obviously complex issues for businesses, for society, and I think we have to look at it in a way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody.”

Santorum was not making a blanket statement about transgender rights. “I don't think the federal government should get into the whole issue of bathrooms,” he said. “I think those are things that the business community and local organizations should deal with.”

“…way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody.” Ah yes, being compassionate is denying us a place to pee, wiping your hands and passing the buck to the local level. Didn’t they say the same thing about slavery being a state rights issue and the federal government should stay out of the debate?

You want to show use that compassionate and respectful of everybody? Well pass legislation to include gender identity and sexual orientation to the Civil Rights Act and stop trying to pass draconian legislation that tries to dehumanize us.