Florida legislator wants Jazz in Jail???

[SeaGlass Siren]

Ok. So.

this douchecanoe of a legislator wants to put Jazz (a member of the mer community) in jail simply for being transgender.

http://planettransgender.com/florida-legislator-frank-artiles-wants-to-put-transgender-youth-jazz-jennings-in-jail/

I am livid. SO. LIVID.

[MermaidCelesteFL]

Not the craziest thing to come out of Florida recently, our whole legislative branch is f-ed up. Between a proposed anti-trans bill, defunding and closing of Planned Parenthood locations (suggesting that women can receive the same services from elementary school nurses and podiatrists), and cutting of Medicaid... again. Don't even get me started with the environmental bills they are trying to pass; some of which would replace our national forests and springs with farmland for grazing cattle.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Agreed it's not the craziest, but but was more because of the fact someone we know was mentioned

[AniaR]

Meanwhile Jazz just won a bunch of awards... lol.

I worry about her because she is just a kid and faces so much hate.

[Echidna]

so the title of the article is a bit...attention-seeking?
Like, he's in front of her home with a police squad :p

but yea, it's silly.
I understand (or at least, I think I understand) where he's coming from, for I've seen trans people who very much didn't look like the gender they identify as, but (for example) like a man with boobs.
And if you don't see the boobs, well.
Not everyone might be comfortable showering naked with someone who entirely looks like the other sex.

So I see where there could be controversy, but in the case of Jazz, it'd be very silly to have her go to the men's restroom.
She looks and sounds more feminine than the reporter lol.

[Vrindavana Starfish]

I'm so embarrassed of my home state.

[PearlieMae]

It's actually a story from February, and Florida has overturned the decision...but North Carolina and Mississippi are adopting the same legislation.

[Vrindavana Starfish]

I lived in NC too :( People can be so ignorant.

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Yeah, the article is a bit click-baity, but it's still a serious issue.

Like, apparently this legislator thinks it's "a choice" to pee. As if it isn't a basic bodily function that everyone experiences. As if Trans people don't disproportionately suffer from urinary track infections from 'holding it' because there aren't any safe bathrooms around.

Forcing everyone to only use the bathroom that corresponds to their birth certificate opens up a whole new can of worms. It opens up trans people to even more danger of harassment and assault than there was before. (I have been kicked out of a women's bathroom, which happens to be the gender on my birth certificate, and am frequently questioned or harassed for using the ladies room.).

Cis women who dress masculinely have also been thrown out of women's restrooms. Heck, one teen was thrown out of a McDonald's because she didn't have ID to 'prove' she was a woman. Are you a woman who is sometimes mistaken for a man? Prepare to be banned from public bathrooms.

And how do we enforce this anyway? Require that everyone carry a legal ID to use a public restroom? Put 'gender checkers' at the doors? Have everyone flash their genitals to gain entry?

[Merman Storm]

All these laws seem to be the latest craze form the reactionaries. I think they will eventually crash and burn. For example:
http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/12/action-bathroom-bill-delayed-until-wednesday/82933594/

[Mermaid Arabella]

2 quotes from a fb conversation we're currently having on this same issue:
More Congressmen have faced charges of bathroom misconduct than trans people
Like some guy's gonna go: "Gosh, I'd sure like to commit felony sex assault, but it's illegal for me to walk into that room. I guess I'll just go home instead."

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Those guys need to get their heads out of their bums.

Jazz is a great young lady. Very outspoken and well mannered from what I can see in her videos. Attacking her because she made a personal choice is just plain rude and stupid.