angryYesterday was actually a good writing day. I did 1,091 words on "Objects in the Mirror." I'd planned the story to go to about 6,000 words. Now, I fear it wants to go nearer 10,000. I say fear, because I have other things that have to be written, other deadlines. I have a novel to begin. I have another novella to write.
Meanwhile, North Carolina says that – despite the sex designation of my USA passport – have to the relieve myself in a men's restroom. Because it's somehow their business. Because there's hysteria that trans people are just conning the system to ogle poor, unsuspecting women and children and, presumably, men. That, in the end, the God-ordained social order and natural order will come tumbling down if we do not keep transfolk to the toilets of their birth gender. Tennessee and South Dakota – surprisingly – decided not to enact these measures (but just barely). The question is still undecided in Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Virginia.
And here's the thing: I transitioned in Birmingham, Alabama between 1989 and 1992, and while I certainly did take a lot of shit off people, there was never once a severe bathroom incident. And after I transitioned, I stayed in the South, first in Birmingham, then Athens, then Birmingham again, then Atlanta. That's a period of about eighteen years, before I moved to Rhode Island. And not even once was there a notable bathroom incident. No one ever ordered me to leave or called the cops or shrieked in terror and demanded justice. Every now and then, rarely, I might get a funny look. But...that was it. And I'm talking restrooms in universities, libraries, restaurants, scary-ass redneck truck stops, science-fiction conventions, convenience stores, fast-food joints, Federal and State and municipal government buildings, shopping malls, hair salons, nightclubs, bookstores, and even a high school. Nothing ever happened.
And not only in the South, but from one end of this country to the other, and in Canada, Ireland, and England...never have I caused or been subject to toilet hysteria. And keep in mind, I'm 6'3", I have a fairly deep voice, and I have never fooled myself into believing that I "pass" as a genetic female.
So, kittens, what's gone wrong? We are moving backwards.
And, by the way, why haven't these cretins tried to figure out how to stop gay men from using men's restrooms and lesbians from invading the ladies' rooms? I mean, by the twisted, bigoted logic these fuckers are employing, that would actually make sense. Or is it only a matter of time until we get toilet segregation?
You know, there's more I was going to say, but I'm too angry. Fine, you can keep fucking North Carolina. I have this marvelous Cold Spring here in New England, where, so far, the toilet hysteria has not extended.
TTFN,
Aunt Beast