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‘The blue wave isn’t applicable to trans people’: advocates in Washington state prepare to fight ban (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 days ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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A coalition of advocacy groups are preparing to mount a legal challenge against a Washington state ballot initiative that bans transgender girls’ participation in girls’ school sports, which voters approved in last week’s midterm election and will go into effect next month.

The challenge is poised to set off a protracted legal battle over the rights of trans youth in Washington, which has functioned as a safe haven for thousands of trans people fleeing states that have enacted anti-trans laws in recent years.

If enforced, the ballot measure, Initiative 638, would be “the most extreme” trans sports ban of its kind, according to its opponents. The initiative’s official text says it would require all girls participating in school sports to “verify biological sex”, which could include confirming their “reproductive anatomy”.

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[–] 26 points 2 days ago (1 child)

At some point in America, we all decided that gay people were OK. That's the mainstream, that's the norm. Bigots had to find a new target because they need an enemy and they need that enemy to be widely despised and feared.

At the same time, queer advocates and allies are pushing radical ideas like recognizing trans people as human. This aggravates people because trans people today occupy the space gay people had in in the 90s. They're widely despised and loathed and are only represented in pop culture as a punchline. People would rather not think about them and they're willing to legislate their comfort.

Speaking as a reformed bigot, I had a hard time with trans acceptance. Trans acceptance is not just changing how you think and feel about trans people, you have to challenge what you think you know about gender; you have to think of yourself and all humanity differently.

But people like me can come around. And I believe that one day relatively soon, trans acceptance will be normal and mainstream.

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