No, of course we shouldn't have to be talking about this.
I'd agree without hesitation or reservation that with all the country's current problems, economic, strategic, fiscal, and otherwise, that the last thing that should be taking up the time and attention of lawmakers in D.C. is fighting over biological men using women's restrooms.
But only a fool would blame Rep. Nancy Mace, who filed the bill to bar such activity, for making it an issue.
The hysteria surrounding the issue is a perfect example of the strategy that secular progressives have utilized in their culture-warring over the last several decades. They attempt to normalize some behavior or practice that violates cultural standards, patterns, and customs. They attack well-established norms of Western society. Then, when opposition arises, they ridicule and disparage those dissenting voices as "culture warriors" seeking to "legislate morality."
It was progressives that attacked the laws restricting or outlawing abortion in all 50 states. They were the warriors attacking cultural ideals.
It was progressives that attacked sodomy laws and statutes that accurately reflected marriage as an institution comprised of one man and one woman. They were the warriors attacking cultural ideals.
It was progressives that invented the notion of "gender identity" and pretended that it was a scientific term distinct and separate from biological sex. They were the warriors attacking cultural ideals.
It was progressives that started pretending that men who put on dresses could menstruate, have children, and "chestfeed." They were the warriors attacking cultural ideals.
If anything, conservative and common-sense Americans have been too hesitant to respond to the left's moral crusades, likely hoping the general population would simply dismiss them without incident. That reluctance to go on the offensive and strangle these radical policies in their cradles is one of the primary reasons we now have to waste time passing bills to keep men masquerading as women out of women's bathrooms.
Every single person with a functioning moral compass knows that Nancy Mace is right - those with male genitalia do not belong in women's locker rooms, dressing rooms, or bathrooms. It's both a modesty and a safety issue for women. Those who push to permit it aren't signaling respect or offering dignity - they are willfully endangering women and ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Imagine being Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota. Before his transgender colleague announced he would use men's restrooms rather than women's while on Capitol Hill, the progressive lawmaker decided to go all-in on the Left's latest culture war offensive and attacked Mace online:
Rep. Nancy Mace was raped. She was sexually assaulted by a man. I'm not a genius, but I'm guessing that's what she is "scared of," Mr. Phillips.
A male sitting member of Congress just taunted his rape-surviving female colleague who doesn't want to pull her pants down in the presence of a biological male.
"What are you scared of?"
A respectable media would be relentless in holding him accountable for such an offense.
What has happened to our cultural expectation that men respect, honor, and - dare I say it - seek to protect women? Are we now too enlightened, too evolved, too educated for such a concept?
Apparently so. Even on the so-called political right, men were cowering at the prospect of standing up for women. Republican Rep. Tom Cole, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, ran away from questions about the issue, declaring, "I'm trying to avoid the great bathroom debate."
Right, I get it. It would be nice to avoid it because it's dumb. Men and women should be using separate bathrooms. The problem is that the Left won't let us avoid it. Progressives are determined to make this an issue that we have to take time to address.
Not Nancy Mace - she's merely responding appropriately and morally to the insulting expectations being demanded of her (and all women) by rudderless moralists on the left, most of whom are men, who remain stubbornly intent on imposing their preferred values on all of us.
