The latest nonsense to bellow forth from the mouth of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is that transgender equality–in the form of allow trans Americans to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with–is an assault on the rights of “traditional” families.
On his show last night, O’Reilly was discussing the issue with Kirsten Powers, and he began by declaring:
“Conservative, traditional, taking it easy, not trying to social-engineer sexuality until the child is emotionally ready, all of those things. Not the progressive agenda to wipe out gender, which is what we’re trying to do.”
In particular, O’Reilly said he was incensed by an editorial in the Charlotte Observer which criticized the recent passage of HB2 by the North Carolina legislature. That bill was later signed into law by GOP Governor Pat McCrory, and the Observer noted in their editorial:
“The thought of male genitalia in girls’ locker rooms – and vice versa – might be distressing to some. But the battle for equality has always been in part about overcoming discomfort – with blacks sharing facilities, with gays sharing marriage – then realizing that it was not nearly so awful as some people imagined.”
O’Reilly dismissed the editorial as “loony.” To that, Powers rightly commented:
“All I’m saying is I don’t think it should bother you. I don’t think [a trans person] is preying on your daughter. This person is not a pervert. There is nothing is wrong with this person.”
In his all too typical dismissive fashion, the clueless O’Reilly ended the discussion by saying:
“It’s not a matter of preying, it’s a matter of being appropriate.”
Appropriate? How is it appropriate to make someone use a bathroom which violates their very identity? And what does it matter where a person chooses to use the bathroom? We have real and important issues in this country–inequality, health care, infant mortality, hatred, division, racism, sexism, paying workers a living wage–and this is not one of those.
Watch O’Reilly foam at the mouth:
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.