Rachel Cotterman: HB 2 a smokescreen

Proponents of House Bill 2 claim to protect cisgender women like me by mandating that bathrooms be segregated by assigned sex. This claim is disingenuous and completely unfounded. My safety is not threatened by sharing a bathroom with transgender neighbors, but the safety and well-being of thousands of our state’s residents are threatened by this regressive and hateful legislation.

Claims to the protection of white, cisgender women have a long and gruesome history as justification for violence and discrimination against socially marginalized groups. Today, political elites in our state want to use cisgender women and children as a smokescreen for violent discrimination against queer and transgender people, as well as numerous other communities who face discrimination based on race, veteran status and other identities.

If they want to protect the safety of their constituents, N.C. legislators must protect all our rights to move freely and care for ourselves and our loved ones with dignity. Protect our rights to clean water and air, affordable housing and living wages, reproductive and mental health care.

This is their job, and they have dangerously neglected it in favor of legislation that attacks basic liberties. Don’t dare try to use me as an excuse.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Rachel Cotterman: HB 2 a smokescreen."