- Joshua Herr is Chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans of Tennessee.
The Tennessee legislature passed HB1182/SB1224, which would publicly identify private businesses that make accommodations for transgender people.
Specifically, it would require private businesses and public buildings to post signs if they allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their identified gender. The Log Cabin Republicans of Tennessee believe this bill is misguided.
Log Cabin Republicans are LGBT people and allies who are committed to conservative principles and the Republican Party.
We founded the Tennessee chapter this year. We volunteer our time to support Republicans in Tennessee.
We also help Republican officials and candidates to navigate LGBT issues from a conservative perspective. Our goal is to promote LGBT inclusion and understanding in the GOP and to advocate for the GOP within the LGBT community.
Here’s where we stand on different LGBT issues
LGBT leftists tend to hate us because we put our principles first. We believe in religious liberty, free speech, God-given human dignity, limited government, and economic opportunity.
For that reason we frequently oppose radical gender theory and leftist policies like the Equality Act. We support a nuanced, science-based approach to transgender policy issues.
We recently spoke out in support of the legislature’s initiative to keep youth sports organized according to biological sex — we find the effort to let biological males play girls’ sports anti-science and offensive.
As a result of stances like these, LGBT leftists regularly picket us, ban us, destroy our property, and call us ugly names. (Uncle Toms, traitors, self-loathing, anti-gay, anti-trans, and “ciswhite fascists” to name a few.)
Recently, our entire leadership team was kicked out of Nashville’s primary LGBT networking Facebook group, in contravention of that group’s written rules, because the admins hated us.
We hope this background demonstrates our conservative bona fides. If we oppose a Republican LGBT bill, it is out of principle, not identity politics or blind devotion to those in the LGBT “community” who reject us. We were not asked to comment on the bill before it was passed, but we feel we would be remiss not to offer our perspective.
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Two reasons why the bathroom bill targeting trans people is flawed
We believe this bill is flawed for two reasons. First, as conservatives who believe in liberty and in supporting small businesses, we do not think that government should single out businesses for special public censure if they do not enforce the government’s current social views.
Americans are still sorting out how they feel about trans people and how they can be tolerant or hospitable neighbors even if they disagree. Government should not use private businesses as pawns in an ongoing culture war, especially with something as private as their customers’ genitalia.
Second, the bill is counterproductive. We understand that the legislature wants to give parents peace of mind that their daughters will not use the same restroom as biological males. Parents want to make sure their kids are safe — this is a completely reasonable concern. But forcing trans women to use the same restroom as young boys can be more disturbing and disruptive to businesses.
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Dads: imagine walking into the men’s room with your son and seeing Caitlyn Jenner, in a dress, fixing her makeup.
More disturbing still is when trans men who are far along in their transition — people who look, act, and identify as male — must use the same restroom as young girls.
Moms: imagine walking into the ladies’ room with your daughter and seeing someone with a beard, deep voice, and men’s clothes who urinates standing up. Does this feel safer than if that person had used the men’s room? Of course not. But that is what this bill incentivizes.
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Proposal makes trans people further vulnerable to violence and bigotry
Bathroom bill advocates claim that letting trans women use the ladies’ room creates opportunity for sexual predators to assault women or girls.
Again, while we respect this fear, we do not think it will be realized in practice: there is not a single recorded instance of a trans woman sexually assaulting a biological woman in a bathroom in Tennessee.
Instead, the opposite is true: there are many recorded instances of trans people being assaulted when they are recognized as trans. We want to protect all Tennesseans, including trans people. We don’t think this bill helps to do that.
The bathroom issue requires both care and prudence. The best solutions will be arrived at freely by citizens within their communities, not imposed from the top via blanket legislation.
HB1182/SB1224 might be more defensible if it only applied to government restrooms. But by extending the mandate to privately-owned businesses, it tries to shame businesses who choose, out of respect for customers’ privacy, to let trans customers use their restroom of choice.
Tennessee businesses should be allowed to work through their own views without government bullying and public labeling. For that reason, we encourage Governor Lee to veto HB1182/SB1224.
Joshua Herr is Chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans of Tennessee.
