Former Houston Astros star Lance Berkman has jumped into the debate over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, attacking the law for providing equal protection for LGBT people.
Berman uses a popular smokescreen - the idea of boys suddenly showering with girls in the locker room - to attack the equal-rights law. As gay people and same-sex couples have found increasing acceptance, that has become a popular method of division for the anti-LGBT forces in Houston, to go after trans youth as some kind of sexual predators.
"No men in women's bathrooms, no boys in girls' showers or locker rooms," Berkman says in a new radio ad. "I played professional baseball for 15 years, but my family is more important. My wife and I have four daughters. Proposition 1, the bathroom ordinance, would allow troubled men to enter women's public bathrooms, showers and locker rooms. This would violate their privacy and put them in harm's way."
So now transgender women are "troubled men." Disgusting.
Of course, what the ordinance actually does is open public accommodations to trans people. Berkman and his homophobic and transphobic cohorts are locking onto this image of same crazed vagabond wandering into a women's bathroom and raping them.
It's a disgusting display of ignorance and intolerance, and it's a shame that someone of Berkman's stature would use his name and voice to further marginalize at-risk trans youth.
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance comes to a popular vote Nov. 3.
Listen to the Lance Berkman hero ad
Hat tip to Erik.
Comments
And what's to stop a troubled heterosexual baseball player from entering a woman's bathroom?
By ScottJ610 on 09.25.15 1:20pm
The Montrose Center helps at-risk LGBT youth in the Houston area. To show your disappointment in Berkman, may I suggest a donation of $17?
By Reuben Poling on 09.25.15 1:29pm
it's not even that this is ignorant
nobody, including lance berkman, can actually believe this. this is wanting to deny rights to transpeople and being willing to create nonsense to justify it. i think that’s a bad thing
By daveydave1 on 09.25.15 1:31pm
No body is denying anyone’s rights. Whatever your physical gender, that is the gender that is recognized until the reassignment. (This holds true for any legal description and/or document whether it is a driver’s license or an arrest record) Trans-people are just that, in transition from one gender to another and as such should used the appropriate bathroom assignment for their current gender or use a gender neutral bathroom. Until the boy or girl parts are added or deleted you are only a male or female in your heads!
By Cardinal Fan 1 on 09.26.15 10:32pm
Simply false
Are you not aware that in a couple of states you CAN’T change your legal gender regardless? More importantly, the majority of trans people CAN’T change their "parts" either because of the exorbitant cost (and it’s not just the cost of the surgery, but also of all the per-requisite hoops that have to be jumped through), or because of contra-indicating medical conditions, or because of some preventing circumstantial situation, it’s simply not possible for a great many. Then beyond that, many reach a point where they can put up with the incorrect genitalia rather than incur the expense and risk of such major surgery and simply choose not to. It is a very heavy burden to spend upwards of $30k and deal with the risk and complications of major surgery if you can reach a point where the dysphoria is tolerable (and if you are FtM the expense is at least double, the results at least half as satisfying).
Not only that, but in other jurisdictions you can have your legal sex changed WITHOUT surgical intervention so in those cases your qualifications are in conflict with each other.
There’s more! There are certain qualifications that trans people must meet in order to be candidates for surgical intervention, among those is that said person must live one full year (at least) in the full time sex role of the gender to which they are transitioning. This includes work, school, everything – INCLUDING (specifically) the use of restrooms – the idea being to be sure you can handle it in the role you seek. So your qualification is a catch-22, if they continue to use the BC appropriate restroom, they fail one of the goals they were asked to complete.
Still more! Many of those who do technically have a penis penis do NOT (thanks to HRT and./or orchiectomy) have the ability to (or the desire to) achieve erection nor the libido to take a sexual interest in anyone else, especially on a casual basis. Moreover, if the trans woman (let’s face it, no one here is REALLY worried about trans-men in the men’s room) is heterosexual – i.e. attracted to males – then said person has no more sexual interest in the other occupants of the ladies room than any other straight (and non-trans) woman. All of which to say the knee-jerk discomfort with their presence is founded in ignorance and myth.
Oh, and "you are only a male or female in your head"?
Absolutely. A statement which is true for every human being ever. Your genitals do not MAKE you the gender you are, rather they are a usually (but not always) reliable INDICATOR of your gender. Consider for evidence the case of the intersex individual – they are born with (in many cases) genitalia that is ambiguous) yet within a few years they can tell you with full confidence what sex they are. Same goes for DNA. There are XY women – born with a vagina – who despite that Y chromosome know full well they are women. The simplistic idea of binary sex we were all taught in middle school is a nice rule of thumb but what they didn’t teach you then (and which has only become well understood in the last few decades) is that there ARE exceptions – physically – to the binary. Among those exceptions are transsexuals. And given that the exceptions all have a firm understanding of their gender identity, regardless of outward physical ambiguity, it is not logical to conclude the presence or absence of a penis is what defines whether or not you are male.
By Tammy_Beth on 09.27.15 11:11am
Doubly False
I am a transgender woman who has not had bottom surgery. I echo what Tammy said. I won’t repeat it.
You are speaking as if you have had some experience treating transgender people medically and psychologically but it is obvious you are totally ignorant.
There are states that allow you to change your gender marker without having GRS for all the reasons Tammy said.
Also, a standard REQUIREMENT to get doctor approval for GRS is to live full time as a woman for 12 months and be on hormones for 12 months. This isn’t something that someone one day decided to get up and put on a freaking costume and play house. It’s a commitment. It’s persistent, consistent, and insistent. It is one thing psychologists look for. It doesn’t go away and it didn’t just become an issue the week before.
You could do yourself a favor by educating yourself on the subject before posting more lies.
By kelli.linnes on 10.14.15 2:18pm
Right vs Rights
Lance Berkman has his First Amendment Rights and there can be no doubt he has his reasons for feeling the way he does. Why did this even become an issue in 2015 and not in 1985? I am as open-minded about things as the next guy, but frankly i don’t like the invasion of privacy for either men or women, and that’s not close-minded, that’s being practical.
By RobertBluestein on 09.25.15 1:46pm
wouldn't you say it's an invasion of privacy to force a man to use a womens' bathroom, or vice versa?
By VoxMediaUser227896 on 09.25.15 1:47pm
First Amendment Right
Absolutely no one is saying the government should censor his speech. What we’re saying, is that he’s stupid, which we have a First Amendment right to say.
By Max Rieper on 09.25.15 1:47pm
Someone doesn't have a grasp of the first amendment
It protects the government from censoring or persecuting him for expressing his ignorance. It doesn’t protect him from the Astros severing ties with him (they should) nor us for thinking he’s an ass (he is).
By wde2011 on 09.25.15 2:04pm
If privacy is a legitimate issue, ban everyone from the showers.
By Jay on 09.25.15 2:14pm
Honest answer
"Why did this even become an issue in 2015 and not in 1985?"
Simple – and I say this as someone who would have LOVED to have transitioned in 1985 instead of beginning in 2008 – we simply know vastly more about the condition of being transsexual now than we did then. Thanks to the advent of modern medical technology, we can discover data that was out of our reach 30 years ago. In 1985, it would have been a reasonable (if ultimately inaccurate) hypothesis that transsexualism was either a immoral sexual perversion (as many Traditionalist religions said) or a mental illness (as not a few professionals said). However, we now know that the condition correlates completely (in tested subjects across many different studies, all but one of which was controlled for other possible factors) with brain structure and function typically found in the sex with which the individual identifies – that is to say, in very simple terms, literally a female brain in a body that appears male (or vice versa). Knowing as we now do that transsexualism is an anomaly of birth with a biological origin changes the terms of the debate.
"frankly i don’t like the invasion of privacy for either men or women, and that’s not close-minded, that’s being practical."
And this is a misconception. Trans women ARE women in the only way that matters – their brain. Nevermind the error of assuming all males are potential predators, even if we did assume that, they are such not because they posses a penis but because of how they THINK. And trans women don’t THINK like males. At all. Beyond that, there are factors like HRT (no libedo and no erection in most cases) or surgical midification which are things you simply can’t sift through on a case by case basis at the restroom door. Moreover, you’ll have masculine looking non-trans women being challenged as lying trans women (this has already happened a time or two) and, most noteably – if you had a law specifically stating that you use the restroom of your BC sex, assuming the crazy idea you could practically enforce it, you’d have trans MEN – people born with a vagina but who are muscular, bearded, deep-voiced, hairy dudes, being compelled to use the ladies room. If we use the logic of Berkman and his supporters, we’d have to conclude that potential predators would far rather use THAT for cover (i.e. walk right in and, if challenged, claim they were born with a vagina) and no one could prove them wrong until they molested someone.
Notwithstanding, those willing to rape are certainly not prevented by trespassing rules – but as I said, Berkman logic.
Finally, I can’t respond without noting that there isn’t a single case on record in this country of a trans person, or someone professing to be, entering these spaces under cover of trans-friendly rules, and harming anyone in anyway. Despite over 200 cities with ordinances like HERO (to say nothing of other jurisdictions, hundreds of retailers including all the big-box stores, and quite a few schools). The dire predictions simply have not come true. At all.
Berkman would be as justified in warning of immanent Bigfoot attacks as he is the warnings implicit in those adds.
By Tammy_Beth on 09.25.15 3:57pm
Maybe this will help:
By Hasukawa on 09.25.15 7:06pm
Lance Berkman has every right to be a moron
..and he succeeded!
"i don’t like the invasion of privacy for either men or women" What does this mean?
Transgender women are women. We are not men. You can have an opinion on whether that is true or not. Science and psychology would back me for the most part. Bible bangers will point to Ed Young and the Bible.
There was a time when there were separate but equal facilities for blacks. It was before my time. Black water fountains? Many people believed that black people were not equal to others. But society evolved and eventually that prejudice was overcome.
So…you think a transgender woman is NOT equal to a natural born woman when it comes to using facilities. Where shall we go? The men’s room? Have you seen a picture of me? My choices are to go to the Men’s room and possible be accosted or go to the ladies room. I choose the ladies room. In my years during transition, I have NEVER caused a disturbance. Never shown my genitals to ANYONE, am very modest, I do my business, powder my nose, and leave! No one even knows what my history is. In any case, I would choose the door that causes no disturbance based on my gender presentation.
By kelli.linnes on 10.14.15 2:28pm
Maybe Lance literally meant troubled men?
and not transgender men, just a thought.
By Pawl_Finebaum on 09.25.15 2:14pm
It's incredible to me.
Transgender’s never even came to mind with the ad, but this article is just loaded with that suggestion. T
By BaseBaugh on 09.25.15 5:05pm
The "men will abuse this law" is very commonly used to demonize trans women
It’s a common argument left, right and center.
I hear it so often from feminists and fox news pundits alike. It’s called a "dog whistle" and i know when i hear it.
By Mila Rose on 09.25.15 5:55pm
That is not demonizing transgender people
By man07 on 09.26.15 7:05am
good try
My IQ is not 25. LOL
By kelli.linnes on 10.14.15 2:30pm
Damnit Lance
As an Astros fan who has looked up to him and respected him for a long time, I hate to see this kind of ignorance. I don’t think he’s a bad person, but on this issue he’s definitely got some work to do IMO
I also had no idea this ordnance was a thing or coming up for a vote, so thanks for getting me out to vote Lance!
By cobaltus on 09.25.15 2:38pm
Twisted "logic"
I love how, because straight men molest, rape and physically attack women, trans women should be punished as a result. It’s as sensible as saying gay men should be barred from the Boy Scouts even though 75 – 80% of molestations of boys are committed by their fathers, stepfathers or mother’s boyfriends.
By CPT_Doom on 09.25.15 2:47pm
Yeah, there’s no evidence this fear-mongering tactic has ever actually happened. More Americans have been sexually harassed in public restrooms by sitting Congressmen than by trans people.
By Reuben Poling on 09.25.15 2:50pm
Lance, your wealth of ignorance is astounding.
The idea that transgender women would use such a law to attack women in bathrooms or locker rooms has been thoroughly debunked:
http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/03/20/15-experts-debunk-right-wing-transgender-bathro/198533
http://mic.com/articles/114066/statistics-show-exactly-how-many-times-trans-people-have-attacked-you-in-bathrooms
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/07/30/the-daily-show-dismantles-the-right-wings-trans/204691
It simply doesn’t happen.
By ekv on 09.25.15 2:53pm
Lance said nothing about transgendered people
Cyd did, and nobody is answering the question at the top of the page.
By Pawl_Finebaum on 09.25.15 3:54pm
Are you saying that a literally "troubled man" would be stopped or encouraged by ANY law?
Occam’s Razor says that Lance thinks "troubled men" is a cute way to insult trans women.
By ekv on 09.26.15 5:00pm