This November, the US state of Massachusetts will hold a referendum concerning three things – limiting election spending, limiting the ratio of nurses to patients in local hospitals, and, the one which has the anti-trans bigots out in force, repealing a 2016 law put in place that banned discrimination against trans people in “places of public accommodation”. For instance; public bathrooms.
This continued nationwide obsession with where trans people can and can’t go to the toilet has reached something of a nadir with a video released by a group calling themselves the ‘Keep Massachusetts Safe Committee’. Disgustingly regurgitating the same old rubbish while at the same time blatantly lying, the anti-trans clip manages to be both incendiary and depressing all at once.
The video ‘No On 3, Keep MA Safe’ features a shifty looking man suggestively caressing the walls of a changing room while a voice intones “What does Massachusetts Question 3 mean to you? It means any man who says he is a woman can enter a women’s locker room, dressing room, or bathroom at any time — even convicted sex offenders.”
The man then hides in a bathroom stall peering at a young woman getting changed before slowly opening the door and moaning as she looks on terrified. The ad then continues with the patently false claim “And if you see something suspicious and say something to authorities, you could be the one arrested and fined up to €50,000”. This is an utter lie no matter how you look at it.
It concludes saying the Bill puts people’s “privacy and safety at risk. It goes too far.” Quite similar to how this video goes too far.
The 2016 law was originally signed into effect by then Republican Governor Charlie Baker, apparently guaranteeing trans people would be able to use bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponded with their gender identities, but it doesn’t seem to have lasted long.
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