I think it's an all around better tack not to take scripture out of context to try to prove our own points. The Bible is highly contextual, speaking to certain people at certain points in history. I think it's unwise (and self serving) to think that every last word has some modern day extrapolation.

Of course you have the right not to be in the bathroom with them. The fair solution is not to use a public bathroom. But you don't have the right to tell them they can't use a public bathroom.

Sorry, but I never understand this Bible quoting when it comes to defending/not defending laws or any other secular part of our society. We don't have Christian Sharia laws.

So k sissy, you cite bible verses that don't support your position and then assert that you speak for most women. Your bible attempt is a fail, now can you link us to any reputable polls that back up your position that "most women" feel as you do?

Veda beeps, you are spot on, this whole notion that the hateful cults are spewing that our "womanhood" and "modesty" are being threatened is demeaning and insulting, I am not a hothouse flower, and I need no protection from a fellow bathroom user of any stripe.

What's so funny for me is that women have been sharing bathrooms with both transgender male-to-female persons and crossdressers for about forever. And it's never caused a stir. The point being that you can't tell by a casual glance.

In the article I linked above about the gal abused by another woman in the restroom for thinking she was transgender, what was interesting is before this even became an issue, she was followed into a restroom by a man who assaulted her. Men with nefarious things on their mind don't care what the law is as they are intent on doing something illegal and far more egregious than just using the "wrong" bathroom.

That's very true, Annie.

And K Sissy, I want to clarify one thing and that is that I am not saying you're an ignorant person. I'm sure you are not. However, on this issue I believe your stance is an uninformed one. There is a distinction.

The contemporary Christian community has consistently demonstrated an unwillingness to challenge its long-held assumptions that have become a part of its belief system, and I think this stems not from a place of faith but one of fear. And that's such a shame, because the one we claim to follow actually came in order to shatter myths, illusions, and outright falsehoods. He consistently demonstrated what He was all about by associating with those that His society considered the lowest of the low, pouring out love, compassion and acceptance for them right where they were, right as they were.

We still have a lot to learn about what it means to truly love, don't we?

K Sissy:

I am not ignorant, and I'm not afraid of transgenders. I just don't want to be in the bathroom with them.

Seeing as they aren't going to be posting gender police outside of all restrooms for you, how will you know who "them" is? Will you be asking everyone who's in the same bathroom as you? Will you be doing crotch checks? Do you even know if you've been in a restroom with one of "them" already? Will you be examining people's birth certificates? Driver's licenses?

And how do you define "them"? Will you go by how someone looks? By what hormones they take? What genitalia they have? Their DNA? The size of their adam's apple? What about people who have XXY chromosomes? What about intersexed people who have birth defects in their genitalia so it may not be determinative of their gender? Estimates are 1 in 1,000 births require genital surgery. Do you really want to make life even more difficult for them?

And answer this question for me...which bathroom should this person use?

While CindyMac's video is extremely biased and propagandist in approach, it does make a valid point that every election season, there does have to be a bugbear that scares the very valuable conservative xtian voting block into motivating them to unite behind and vote for the gop candidate. Considering this whole transgender bathroom issue has been a nonissue since, well, ever, I think they've done a masterful job at elevating the issue to become the hot button for this election, along with the Mexicans and the Muslims. And they need something particularly scary considering they need to rally them around trump who is fundamentally ignorant of and/or not interested in the bible.

K Sissy, wish you would come back and answer Annie's question about which bathroom those pictured should use.

Target's stock did have a slight decline at the sme time the boycott was first being pushed, but there is no telling if that was because of the boycott. Many other retail stores also had a stock price drop at the same time. Target's stock is actually up 3% compared to last year.

When thinking about using public bathrooms, I just want to get in and out as fast as possible. If someone (anyone) is obviously having a bowel movement next to me, I try to do my duty even faster. I feel they might be more comfortable without an audience.

I asked my high school age granddaughter if she knew of any transgendered students or teachers in her school. She asked me how she would know. Smart kid.

ML

Isn't it amazing how easy is it to brainwash people? This hasn't been an issue for decades ... yet, currently, one political party decided to use it as a wedge issue, a diversion, and people are falling for it. It's especially mind-boggling that the party trying to squash rights, and paint people as deviants, don't have a good record of the "moral compass" they're always pushing.

My head and heart hurts over seeing the lengths and justifications people are exhibiting [not just referring to this board, but all over] as an excuse to discriminate against other human beings ... humans they don't understand, therefore, must fear, loathe, and try to stop from being who they are. Transgendered people should have the same rights as anyone else. They aren't criminals, yet I've seen comments on news stories wishing them death. What makes some look down their noses at other humans, and decide they aren't worthy? Religion? Really? That's so hypocritical. Reminds me of the Pharisees in the Bible.

It's ironic that in a bid to protect against dangerous discrimination, some are twisting it to act like they are the victims. Especially those who have never had to live with any kind of discrimination themselves.

I remember a great Twilight Zone episode: a bigoted man who hated anyone Jewish was reincarnated as a Jew. He got to experience the fear of having a segment of the population hating him, and threatening him, for no reason, except differing beliefs. It was a great lesson in humility, and seeing what life was like on the other side. How unfair it was to deal with prejudice from people who thought they were the only "right" ones.

I just can't believe this is still happening, in 2016. I don't expect that everyone will always think alike, that's not realistic, but I still hope for a world in which innocent people are not persecuted in society ... because their life is deemed wrong by those who think they are superior humans.

Yes, MizGG, why all of this now? Mayflowers' cartoon captured it perfectly. Let's be sure to protect our children from transgenders in bathrooms, as if that's the biggest threat to them now. It's not even in the running, in my book.

Immoral coaches and teachers, the high cost of college, drunk drivers, careless drivers, a future with questionable leadership... these are what keep me up at night. Transgenders? Not so much.

FWIW, I don't like ANYONE a few feet from me in a public restroom. I don't care what your birth certificate says. Strangers doing their business in such close quarters in public is gross any way you look at it.

A Dallas woman was questioned about her gender by a man who followed her into a bathroom because he said she was “dressed like a man.”

Jessica Rush told KXAS-TV she filmed the last seconds of the encounter on her cell phone Thursday afternoon at the Baylor Medical Center in Frisco, Tex.

“My first thought was ‘I’m about to be attacked’ just because I am 5 [foot]3, female,” Rush said. “I understand one thing if you are like a cop of the Dallas Police Department, but just some random guy coming in I think is absolutely absurd and inappropriate.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/texas-man-woman-bathroom-check-gender-article-1.2622029

And then there's this...lady with a bible and her 12 kids

Bible carrying mother rants at Target

Well ... she's lovely, no?

Those poor, poor children of hers. They are abused. And if she really has 12 of them (12?!? FFS!), the likelihood that one is gay or bisexual is pretty high.

Bush used gay marriage fears to win his second term. I read that the RNC planned on making "Christian religious freedom" a main talking point for this election. But then there was Trump....

If being okay being in stall in a public bathroom next to a person who was originally born a male makes me not normal and not like the majority of women in this great land of ours, then Hallelujah!! Send me my freak card and I will wear it proudly, along with my Christian card. They are not mutually exclusive.

Amen, Linelle.

I submit that if you (that's the collective "you") are giving any thought to the apparatus the person in the stall next to you is using to perform a bodily function, you are the one with the perverse issue. Maybe you can "pray it away." Good luck.

Mother of God, that woman in the video. Now she is a reason not to shop anywhere within earshot of that voice.

That woman and her family...oh my!

I was in Target today. That horrible woman and her poor children were not.

Just saw this, from Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's best Christian...

I skipped most of the comments. I am pretty right wing. Until my children were 12 they came in the ladies room with me. I have a "close" thing with transgender. While I don't get it...let's all just pee and get it over with???

From Noah Michelson:

Aside from the fact that being trans has nothing to do with being a predator, we don’t need laws outlawing trans people from using public restrooms to protect us from molestation, rape, kidnapping, murder and chose-your-own-violent-action-nouns because — are you ready for this? — all of those things are already illegal!

Love this.

Who Would Jesus Pee With?

Trae Crowder on the lady with 12 kids.

TR and Cindy, love both of those links!

Here’s a reason to think twice about shopping at Target now -http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/05/20/target-suing-man-who-saved-teen-girl-from-stabbing-in-its-store/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

There's more to the story then Breitbart is reporting....Snopes with the full story that happened in 2013, now being publicized because of Target's current stance in support of people of the human race.

including this; "However, Michael Turner was not sued merely for his having saved Allison Meadows from being stabbed. Rather, Target claimed that Turner and others had recklessly endangered customers when they brought a confrontation that had started outdoors into the store. News articles published at the time of the incident in March 2013, as well as articles published in July 2015 when the lawsuits were filed, detailed the events leading up to the attack on Meadows"

Thank you, maddielee. Half truths are infuriating.

Breitbart is a hate site.

I was in my local Target today, and they had a "Pride" table with a variety of rainbow gear (bags, sunglasses, hats, etc.). Way to double-down for equality!

there are a lot of Gay Pride events that happen in June in my area. People need to buy accessories!

Fabulous accessories! :-D

So, you believe everything Snopes post is 100 % truth? Never half truths? Sheesh..

As someone who was raped by knife point when I was just 16, I have no desire to have ANY stranger with his male parts intact, coming into the same restroom as me, peeing in the stall near me. Or even coming into the bathroom to check his lipstick. Most transgender individuals, do not look like the pictures you posted. Most cannot afford surgery to get the look of a female. I can tell the difference when a man dresses like a women.. I would be on panic mode after what I went through. So would other rape victim survivors I know. Who do we trust?? Should we just assume that a transgender male is safe and not going to harm us? Should we assume that they all have good intentions. How do we know it is not some rapist or child molestor posing and dressing as a women to make it easier to attack his targets?? Don't give me your BS about "Transgender have been using the bathrooms for years and you just didn't know it crap!!"

How about the child that was raped by a male? Or female?? If a mother takes her child into a restroom and that child peeks between the cracks or tries to crawl under the stall doors, which we know a lot of kids do, what if they see a transgender with his private parts showing? Do you have any idea the trauma that would cause?? Are you going to blame the child, the mother?? What about their rights??

All Target needed to do was install an extra bathroom for unisex individuals . Then everyone would have a choice to pee where ever they feel comfortable. But, Target can do what ever they want. They have that right..But, don't complain when their customers leave and their stock goes down. Oh wait, it already is!!

Just a followup to robo's post. It might be the transgendered person who should be more fearful. Imo, everyone is going to become more suspicious of anyone who might look slightly more feminine or masculine than the norm, and in this day and age, there are many. Not only do we have to think about men attacking another man, but girls have become just as agressive and may gang up on a 'suspected' smaller transgendered male using a womens restroom. The scenerio isn't as simple as it may seem, imo.

"Girls", patty Vinson? Are you saying a bunch of 8 year olds are gong to beat another woman up in a bathroom? Or are you saying that cisgender women (who are not girls, BTW) are going to beat up a trans person for not looking feminine enough in the ladies room?

Just today a 12 year old girl beat up a 6 year old girl in the girls' bathroom of an elementary school in Georgia. (No transgender people were involved.)

Sad bathroom story

Lakeaffect, use your head and think about what you said. No, not 8 year old girls, but maybe 12-year olds as they seem to be much bigger than they were in the past. I have no clue as to what 'cisgender women' are.

cisgender: denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not transgender.

Beating up on anyone in any place for any reason is already illegal.

Annie, so what? So is walking into a class room or anywhere else, and shooting everyone, but it's being done more frequently. Do you really belive everyone has that thought process, especially those with a mental illness, drug addiction, or 'he had it coming'. We can only wish before any action were taken against another human being the thought of it being illegal would register somewhere within their consciousness.

I'm not following the point, patty. Are you saying that laws should not be changed to give transgendered people equal bathroom rights because it could potentially create more criminal activity against them?

"Just a followup to robo's post. It might be the transgendered person who should be more fearful."

Exactly. A person who is born male and has transgendered to female would risk much harm by being made to use the men's room.

Like this child, reposting the photo....

Annie, so what?

The so what is, why do we need a law to change anything. It's been working as well as possible before all this brouhaha and most likely will continue to do so. But guising a law as a safety issue for women and children when it really is a law to discriminate against transgender and intersexed people makes no one safer, but does generate fear and hatred.

Don't know if anyone else saw The Daily Show the other night, but there were some excellent points made (maybe a bit too crude for some here, tho). 2 best being the statistics of transgenderism - basically less than 1% - meaning your chances of encountering an actual transgendered individual in a bathroom are likely less than 1%, tho the likelihood of a transgendered individual NEEDING to use a restroom is 100% & that all the consternation seems to be about male genitalia - not female, for some reason....

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/7jn7wu/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-president-obama-s-transgender-bathroom-backlash

This past week a transgender woman in Washington DC was thrown out of a store for using the woman's bathroom by a female security guard. The guard told her that she's tired of "her kind" using "our" bathrooms. The transgender woman has Parkinson's and was shoved out of the store. Police came and arrested the guard for assault and the DA is considering prosecuting her with a hate crime.

Washington Times article about transgender assault

Annie, and that *should* be true. Time will tell. What's the saying....rules were meant to be broken? Rules are laws. There are many who think, so what? My point.

Jen, not in the least! My point is, laws will not stop those who are against such a change, and could incite violence to any transgendered person. Angry and malicious people don't give a hoot about breaking the law, and this particular law might not hold up so well in various courtrooms thruout the country, leaving many to favor 'the bad guy', broken law or not. I have a visual of this type of thing happening in smaller towns, probably already have. A possible slap on the wrist might be worth the gratification to someone with a warped perspective on the transgender issue. This is a very sensitive issue, *everyone* needs to be very openminded, not just a select few.

I still maintain that all these "laws" are a backlash to legislation passed by several states (including mine) which allow anyone to claim they are a transgendered person and then to use the bathroom or locker room they prefer, because of how they "feel" inside.

I have no fear of transgendered individuals and as it has been pointed out, there have probably been times when I've shared a bathroom with people who are trans - the statistics are quite low, but I live in a community quite accepting to LGBT people and I believe there is a larger than average community here.

My objection is to the open ended type of laws that would allow any man with perverted/voyeuristic purposes to be allowed access into women's facilities - simply by saying he "feels" like a woman inside. The laws, as written, provide no protection from that type of behavior. Of course, anything already illegal, like assault, is still illegal but hanging out to get an eyeful (how do you prove voyeurism in a case like this), or maybe even exposing himself is going to be much more difficult to prosecute, thus prevent.

I've said before, I don't have a solution. Everyone should have the right to relieve themselves, but laws which inadvertently (because of their wording) allow any man into women's facilities, simply on their own word that they feel female inside is not the right way to go about providing a safe for all solution.

Thanks for explaining your position, patty. (Or "party", as my spellcheck is insistent on calling you. ;-))