Progressives and Bathrooms

About a year ago, I wrote, 

[P]rogressivism is about generating uncertainty, about keeping society off balance. It is about disrupting long-established institutions and practices; it is about tearing down that which is, with no real formula for what will follow except to put progressives in positions of power to dictate to us all as the whim comes and goes.

Progressivism is motivated by a deep hatred for Western civilization.

We'll get back to those observations, but I also want to draw attention to another post written at the time of the Rebel flag uproar. I noted that progressives demanded that the Rebel battle flag be taken down everywhere it flies because it incites racism and gun violence; I observed that the flag was not the real target of progressive wrath anymore than was gun violence,

The real target is attacking white male culture, especially the hated "Redneck" culture, which progressives cannot stand. The real target is trying to stigmatize white males and cowing them into politically correct submission . . . in the Hollywood movie that runs in an endless loop inside the heads of progressives, white males, especially in the South, are all Rebel flag-waving, pick-up driving, gun maniac racists just dying to kill black men and rape black women.

One more citation from the archives of the Diplomad: a little piece from 2014 that dealt with the CDC's study on lesbian, gay, bi-and transsexual persons in the USA, and pointed out that,

the CDC has put out a thorough report which notes that only 2.3% of Americans identify themselves as either gay, lesbian, or bisexual. About 1.6% of the population identifies itself as either gay or lesbian, what used to be called homosexual.

There are other studies that support the CDC findings, and show the number of transgender persons in the US at somewhere between 0.2% and 0.3% of the population.

OK, so bathrooms.

We have courts, mayors, rock stars, Hollywood, governors, pundits, and, of course, the President of the United States weighing in on whether schools and other institutions and even businesses should "segregate" on the basis of gender when it comes to bathroom facilities. The President's minions sent a letter to public schools in which his administration provided "guidance" to schools (full text here) letting them know that they have to respect the concept of "transgender," as now redefined,

o Gender identity refers to an individual’s internal sense of gender. A person’s gender identity may be different from or the same as the person’s sex assigned at birth.

o Sex assigned at birth refers to the sex designation recorded on an infant’s birth certificate should such a record be provided at birth.

o Transgender describes those individuals whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender male is someone who identifies as male but was assigned the sex of female at birth; a transgender female is someone who identifies as female but was assigned the sex of male at birth.

This barely readable mishmash of ideology, legalism, and faux science goes on to give "guidance" to schools on how they should treat "transgender" individuals. Schools must respect those persons' choice of gender, and allow them access to sports programs and, of course, bathrooms and showers designated for that gender. The threat is clear: comply or lose federal funding.

Here we see all the themes laid out at the beginning. Our progressive overlords are creating an atmosphere of uncertainty, and turmoil, and all the while not giving a damn about the 0.2-0.3% of the population that is "genuinely transgender." As so many times before, the plan is to throw society off-balance, disrupt long-established, even ancient social norms, destroy well-established definitions, undermine the very idea of common sense, and do it all in the name of addressing a problem which does not exist on "behalf" of an infinitesimally small piece of the population. The real goal, of course, being to draw increased power to the progressive controlled government bureaucracy and courts, and use that power to control us little people in everything we do, including, now, going to the restroom.

A few suggestions. Parents should insist that their schools resist this "guidance." Losing federal funding for schools is a blessing, not even in disguise. I would love to see a revolt of parents and others telling the feds to keep their funds and their controls to themselves. Make the teachers' unions and the vast array of overpaid administrators eat the deficit. Defeat at the polls any and all politicians who do not resist this incredible overreach of federal authority.

The madness must stop.

Twitter: Lewis Amselem@TheDiplomad