Foolish culture wars

We suspect that people who present themselves as women use the women’s facilities and those who present themselves as men use the men’s. And legislators may be clueless.

But many of them are so horrified at the thought of this happening in Charlotte that they might rush to Raleigh to stop it, with Republican Gov. Pat McCrory’s full support. That will be the most urgent, critical issue in all of North Carolina.

The ordinance, approved Monday by a 7-4 vote of the Charlotte City Council, prohibits discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgendered people. The opposition stems from bathroom concerns. Critics are afraid that men dressing as women will enter women’s restrooms and attack women and girls.

That’s possible, with or without the Charlotte ordinance. Such attacks seem to be extremely rare, if they occur at all, in cities that already have nondiscrimination ordinances.

It’s also possible that men dressed as men can attack men and boys in men’s rooms. Everyone needs to be watchful in public facilities. Small children should be accompanied by a parent.

Charlotte has simply acknowledged the reality that transgendered people use public bathrooms without drawing attention to themselves or causing problems. Its ordinance does not require unisex facilities, according to its city attorney. It simply offers a legal resolution for people who can otherwise find themselves in a dilemma and who are at least due a measure of human understanding and accommodation rather than contempt.

Action by the legislature will make national news at a time when Charlotte is building a reputation as a great city. It’s a banking center, home of the Carolina Panthers, an airline hub, a leader in the arts. Now it’s about to be dragged into an embarrassing culture war with a reactionary state government. No wonder the Charlotte Regional Partnership promotes the city as Charlotte USA. Maybe Charlotte should ask to join South Carolina, an apparently more progressive state whose leading cities, Columbia and Charleston, enacted anti-discrimination measures without provoking a backlash.

But, in an election year, this has more to do with politics than policy. McCrory’s campaign strategist, Chris LaCivita, sent out a media memo Friday accusing Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper of refusing “to explain his position on an important topic to the media and citizens of North Carolina.”

Cooper, running for governor against McCrory, should explain his position. He should say that this topic isn’t important to people outside Charlotte, and that the legislature should keep its nose out of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County business. Why should lawmakers who represent 99 other counties get involved? And why should they spend taxpayers’ money to hold a special legislative session when all they’re really doing is advancing McCrory’s political agenda?

Legislators at least should put their own house in order first. If they care so much about who uses which bathrooms, they should set strict rules for Legislative Building facilities and post guards to check the “plumbing” of everyone who enters. We’ll all rest easier.

http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/our-opinion-foolish-culture-war/article_a4cd79e7-ad3d-5fe1-90f0-ad13a2b6dff1.html