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Speaker 1

00:00

-♪ ♪ -♪ -♪ This has clearly been... A big week for the LGBT community, but it's also been a big year for the T part of that equation, from Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover, to TV shows like Transparent, to another small milestone just this Friday.

Speaker 2

00:19

Actress Laverne Cox marked another milestone with the drop of a curtain at Madame Tussauds San Francisco.

Speaker 1

00:26

Now that is a big step forward for transgender Americans, and it's frankly about time. Because bear in mind, it came after the same milestone for Spider-Americans and Wookies. -...

Speaker 1

00:38

But for all the strides transgender people have made lately, let's not get too complacent about how far we've come, because they still face a host of obstacles. Even when the news media are trying to be supportive, they can make dumb mistakes.

Speaker 3

00:53

Your private parts are different now, aren't they? I don't wanna talk about it because it's really

Speaker 4

01:00

personal.

Speaker 5

01:00

Don't you feel funny with the wrong genitalia? Not as a joke, you stand up in the women's bathroom.

Speaker 6

01:06

You've got breast implants. I, you know, I, I... They're tasteful, whatever's going on there.

Speaker 6

01:14

Thank you.

Speaker 7

01:15

So, if I saw you undressed, you would look like a woman to me, totally... Yes? Yes.

Speaker 1

01:23

What are you doing? It is no more okay to ask transgender people about their sex organs, than it would be to ask Jimmy Carter whether or not he's circumcised. Which, by the way, he is.

Speaker 1

01:35

-♪ ♪ -♪ Smooth like a boiled carrot. And sometimes, sometimes... Don't think about that. And sometimes, the media's confusion is even more basic than that.

Speaker 1

01:46

As in the case of this Arizona weatherman just 2 weeks ago. And a transgender

Speaker 2

01:52

woman says she was kicked out of a Tempe bar. Let's bring it back to that earlier headline. Now, what is a transgender woman?

Speaker 2

01:58

Yes. What does that even mean now? Okay. Do you know what I thought it means?

Speaker 2

02:05

She used to be a guy. But now is a woman.

Speaker 1

02:09

♪♪

Speaker 4

02:12

Oh, shit.

Speaker 2

02:12

Okay. This is... So weird.

Speaker 1

02:15

Aren't you just saying a woman?

Speaker 2

02:17

I don't... I can't even keep up anymore.

Speaker 1

02:21

Holy shit! I really hope that's also how he reports the weather. Wait, it used to be rainy and now it's sunny?

Speaker 1

02:30

So now it's just sunny? I can't even keep up anymore! I can't! This doesn't make my head work!

Speaker 1

02:38

Look, look, look, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe for him and for many people, this is new information. Maybe he's thinking about transgender issues for the first time, and he needs a minute to try and understand it. So, let's take that minute to fill in that bamboozled weatherman and everyone else on some basic details.

Speaker 1

02:57

Transgender people have a gender identity that differs from the 1 they were assigned at birth. And that gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. Gender identity is who you are, sexual orientation is who you love. Some transgender people do undergo hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery as part of their transition, some do not.

Speaker 1

03:15

And interestingly, their decision on this matter is, medically speaking, none of your fucking business. And if you're still wondering, well, hold on, hold on. What do I call a transgender person? It's so confusing.

Speaker 1

03:29

Well, actually, it's pretty simple. Call them whatever they want to be called. You can do it, we do it all the time. Think of it this way, David Evans woke up 1 day and said, everyone call me The Edge.

Speaker 1

03:42

And we all went, find The Edge? Are we talking the noun or the verb? And that's... It's not just that.

Speaker 1

03:48

It's not just that. Over the past 20 years, we've agreed to call this man Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Just Diddy, and now Puff Daddy again, and most people don't even like him. And here's the thing.

Speaker 1

04:02

Here's the important thing. It's genuinely crucial that we get this right, because there are more transgender people in the U.S. Than you might realize. 1 study estimates that nearly 700,000 American adults are transgender.

Speaker 1

04:16

That's more than the population of Boston. And you probably know someone from Boston. I'll give you a clue, it was the guy who wore a Bruins jersey to your sister's wedding. And...

Speaker 1

04:27

And while... While a handful of transgender people have been winning awards or appearing on magazine covers, the community at large has been facing some staggering challenges.

Speaker 2

04:36

A 2011 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality found 41% of transgender people had attempted suicide. They are nearly 4 times more likely to make less than $10,000 a year compared to the general population. 78% of those surveyed reported harassment during K-12 schooling, 35% reported physical assault, and 12% were sexually assaulted.

Speaker 1

05:02

That is terrible. Those statistics are so depressing, it's enough to make you angry at the very concept of numbers. Fuck you symbols meant to represent a specific value!

Speaker 1

05:11

You're the absolute worst! The worst! Look, look, we've clearly got work to do. Because when you're transgender, pretty much any interaction with bureaucracy can be humiliatingly difficult.

Speaker 1

05:25

Just take what happened to 2 transgender women when they went to the DMV in West Virginia.

Speaker 3

05:30

Both women were asked to remove all their jewelry, makeup and wigs before the DMV would photograph them.

Speaker 2

05:37

They're saying that I need to fulfill a certain look that they are designating means male and that I'm hiding who I am, which I'm absolutely not.

Speaker 3

05:48

Both women say they were also referred to as it.

Speaker 6

05:51

Words can't explain the humiliation I felt that day. That was the worst thing in 52 years of my life I have ever felt.

Speaker 1

06:01

Listen, I'm not saying anyone has a good DMV experience, but that is the worst I have ever heard. And for the record, you get to pick virtually everything else on your driver's license. They ask you your weight.

Speaker 1

06:15

They don't weigh you like a prize hog. Plus, the whole idea of a driver's license photo is to present how you look from day to day. That's why DMV employees tell you not to smile, because they can't imagine anyone whose normal existence involves happiness in any form. And even in...

Speaker 1

06:34

Even in organizations that have seemed willing to change, that change has come frustratingly slowly. Take the military. Both the Secretary of Defense and President Obama have indicated they are open to transgender troops being able to serve. And yet, they're still banned from enlisting because of weirdly archaic restrictions on things like defects of the genitalia, such as change of sex and psychosexual conditions, including but not limited to transsexualism and transvestism.

Speaker 1

07:05

Our current recruitment poster is essentially, I want you, maybe, after we talk about your genitals for a bit, I know that's weird, but for the moment, this is apparently how we do things. And yet, even despite those restrictions on enlistment, by 1 estimate, there are currently 15,000 transgender service members. And while you can be discharged for being transgender, those rules are enforced inconsistently, depending on your branch of service and commanding officer. Meaning experiences can vary wildly.

Speaker 1

07:36

For some, like Logan Ireland, it can be great.

Speaker 8

07:39

What I like about this deployment is I can be my authentic self. I'm just another guy, whereas back home, I'm still seen as female, and I go by female regs and standards. Here in Afghanistan, a war zone, it's like a vacation to me because I can be myself in such an austere environment.

Speaker 1

08:00

It is not a great sign for how we treat transgender people that Afghanistan is a place where you can be yourself. That is the least likely tourism slogan for Afghanistan. But I'd put it right behind Waterpark Capital of the World and birthplace of the twerk.

Speaker 1

08:19

But compare that with the experience of Captain Jacob Eleazar of the Army National Guard, who faced discharge for being transgender, despite his own command to support, and the fact he was being awarded a medal.

Speaker 2

08:32

The thing that stuck with

Speaker 9

08:33

me the most is as they were pinning that Army Commendation medal, I mean, my regimental commander said, thank you for everything that you've done for our regiment, Jacob. And use my real name. And I can't express just the emotion of that juxtaposition.

Speaker 9

08:53

It's like you're kicking me out, but you're acknowledging me for myself and giving me an award at the same time.

Speaker 1

09:01

That's utterly ridiculous. They gave him an award and then tried to kick him out. It's pretty much what Hollywood did to Cuba Gooding Jr.

Speaker 1

09:09

And that wasn't okay either. But this is the big problem. This is the big problem because even when people say the right things about the transgender community, too often, practical change fails to follow. And perhaps the perfect embodiment of this concerns bathrooms.

Speaker 1

09:25

We all use them, as the good book tells us, everyone poops. Or, as it's known in England, everyone poops but the queen. She has people do it for her. Across the country, there have been efforts by lawmakers to fight non-discrimination ordinances with so-called bathroom bills, like this 1 in Arizona.

Speaker 10

09:47

It's a new show-me-your-papers bill for Arizona. The sex on your birth certificate would have to match the sex of the bathroom or locker room that you use. The target, transgender men and women here in Arizona.

Speaker 2

09:59

6 months in jail, $2,500 fine for just going in to pee.

Speaker 1

10:04

$2,500 fine for peeing in the wrong place. Look, unless you happen to urinate a 1989 Chateau Pertroux, you're not even gonna break even on that deal. In the most recent session, at least 13 bathroom bills have been introduced in state legislatures, and the reasoning behind them can be pretty insulting.

Speaker 1

10:25

Just listen to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Speaker 11

10:29

We are now in city after city watching ordinances that say that your seven-year-old daughter, if she goes into the restroom, cannot be offended and you can't be offended if she's greeted there by a 42-year-old man who feels more like a woman than he does a man. Now I wish someone had told me when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I'm pretty sure I would have found my feminine side and said, Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.

Speaker 11

11:05

You're laughing because it sounds so ridiculous, doesn't it? There's something inherently wrong with forcing little children to be a part of this social experiment.

Speaker 1

11:16

No, but there is something inherently wrong with forcing us to listen to your fucked up daydreams about all the sex crimes you would have committed as a teenager, had you just been able to find a legal loophole. That's weird. And that kind of baseless fear-mongering is everywhere.

Speaker 1

11:35

It even turned up in a campaign ad when Gainesville, Florida was trying to pass 1 of these bills. -...

Speaker 4

11:46

-…sorry, I don't know what to say. -…sorry, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1

11:49

–

Speaker 4

11:49

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Speaker 1

11:50

–

Speaker 4

11:50

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Speaker 4

11:52

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Speaker 4

11:54

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Speaker 1

11:58

Okay. Let's... Let's break that bullshit down, because first, assaulting children is still illegal. Secondly, someone abusing a non-discrimination ordinance to assault someone in a bathroom is almost unheard of.

Speaker 1

12:11

It's a borderline imaginary crime, like dragon rustling or space bestiality. Sure, it's terrible, but it doesn't really happen. Also, forcing transgender people into certain bathrooms can actually be much more disruptive, as activist Michael Hughes, a transgender man, showed with this photo of himself looking understandably awkward in a ladies' room. Because there are many places that Michael would fit in.

Speaker 1

12:38

A tattoo parlor in Reno, playing steel guitar in a Johnny Cash tribute band, or on the label of his own barbecue sauce. But a women's bathroom? Yeah, not so much. Besides, it is so much easier for everyone when people are allowed to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, rather than 1 that might match the genitalia they were born with.

Speaker 1

13:00

That is why the little pictures on bathroom doors are stereotypical representations of men and women, and not biologically accurate depictions of penises and vaginas. Because that would be troubling for children. Mommy, Mommy, Do I go with the 1 with the pouty slug or the angry goat skull? I'm scared!

Speaker 1

13:23

And yet, legislators have even tried to enforce these bills in high schools with damaging consequences. Take the case of Henry Brousseau, a transgender high school student who spoke in opposition to a proposed bathroom bill in Kentucky.

Speaker 3

13:37

Even though I've been living as a male for some time, I've been accepted by my friends and family as a male, I was being forced to use a girls' bathroom at my school very recently. Because the school administration did not support my gender identity by letting me use the restrooms concordant with my gender identity, the kids at my school bullied me. The kids thought that because the administration didn't support my gender identity, they didn't have to either.

Speaker 1

14:02

And that is the whole point. Official rules can end up legitimizing prejudice. And besides, teenagers really don't need extra ideas for how to make each other's lives miserable.

Speaker 1

14:14

That's what they do. Sit on your own, Becca. Side ponytails are so 5 nevers ago. And, look, as Henry finished his speech, it actually seemed like he'd really connected with the legislators.

Speaker 3

14:31

If you don't know a transgender kid already, you do now. You know me, Henry. Please let me know how I can be of any further assistance, and thank you so much for your time today, and please vote no on Senate Bill 76.

Speaker 11

14:42

I educated myself a lot today, and I appreciate the testimony. You should be proud of

Speaker 6

14:47

yourself for being able to stand in front of this committee and be so articulate in your comments.

Speaker 7

14:51

Henry, I love you, man. I appreciate you. I appreciate your courage.

Speaker 7

14:58

I can't really imagine that anyone else in this room has the kind of courage that it took for you to come and testify today.

Speaker 1

15:09

Okay, okay. But, I love you, man, is a little much. I love Henry, too.

Speaker 1

15:14

But He's not the best man at your wedding. He's a teenage boy trying to take a shit in the men's room. And it's worth noting, once they were done patting Henry on the back, and then patting themselves for patting Henry, all 3 of those lawmakers voted to advance the bill to force him into bathrooms where he's bullied. Now, thankfully, that particular bill never became law.

Speaker 1

15:37

But that dynamic of praising a transgender person's courage and then not actually supporting them speaks to the fact that we are weirdly comfortable celebrating transgender people, while simultaneously dehumanizing them at the DMV, pinning awards to them as we drum them out of the military, and constantly quizzing them about their genitals. And look, this is a civil rights issue. And if you are not willing to support transgender people for their sake, at least do it for your own. Because we've been through this before.

Speaker 1

16:09

We know how this thing ends. If you take the anti-civil rights side and deny people access to something they're entitled to, History is not going to be kind to you. There is no biopic where Liam Neeson kicks the shit out of a suffragist. -♪ Laughter and applause ♪ -This...

Speaker 1

16:26

This... There's not a stamp featuring George Wallace at the schoolhouse door. And

Speaker 4

16:45

you