Letters to the Editor

Gender-neutral policy fears are unfounded

I would like to respond to the Glenn McCoy editorial cartoon of May 7. In this cartoon his portrayal of gender neutral bathroom policies at the business Target. In this portrayal he plays to the unfounded myth that child molesters will abuse this policy to rape little girls. Well it is not the first time Mr. McCoy has unfairly attacked transgendered people before and probably won’t be the last.

But here is a fact to counteract Mr. McCoy’s delusions. There are 17 states and over 225 municipalities with gender-inclusive bathroom policies. And not one of these places has law-enforcement reported women being assaulted by sexual predators pretending to be transgendered women. So this fear is completely unfounded. It is more likely that transgender people will be the victims of an assault rather than a perpetrator.

This is nothing new. Over 50 years ago this same sex predator myth was used against homosexuals and young boys, before that the same myth that African-American want only to rape white women. The more things change, the more they stay the same. You want to see the true face of rape, look to Dennis Hastert, Jerry Sandusky, and Josh Duggar. All of them not transgendered.

Stanley J. Schulte Jr., Swansea

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