Washington’s Just Want Privacy’s Talking Points For Their Antitrans Initiative

April 12, 2016 ·

[su_astop]

Do you want to know what Just Want Privacy‘s talking points are? The talking points that the organization gives out to their spokespeople who support of their “repeal the rule” initiative on transgender public accommodations? The things they tell them not to say?

Just Want Privacy is the group who wants to repeal the public accommodation antidiscrimination protections based on gender identity in Washington by a statewide initiative.

Thumbnail link: Washington's Just Want Privacy Email Blast entitled 'New FAQ's Talking Points And Other Helpful Resources' (sent April 11, 2016)

One thing they tell their spokespeople NOT to say about the rule:

Avoid ideological debates about transgenderism. This issue is not about transgender people. It is about safety and privacy for ALL.

Well, the rest of the talking points are here, straight from a link in there their email blast from the week of April 11, 2016.

Thumbnail link: Washington's Just Want Privacy document entitled 'Talking Points' (posted April 11, 2016)

Talking Points

  • The Just Want Privacy Initiative does not require anyone to use the “wrong” bathroom. It simply gives businesses the freedom to decide for themselves what options best serve their customers, and it protects children from premature exposure to opposite sex anatomy.
  • Every child has a right to privacy and safety. WAC 16232 requires schools, daycares, and camps to adopt policies that sacrifice that right. Children are now prematurely exposed to opposite sex genitalia without the consent of their parents.
  • When it comes to locker rooms and showers, an invasion of privacy is an injury. Survivors of sexual assault, in particular, deserve protection from such invasions. This is not just about the bathroom. It also affects the functionality of hundreds of locker rooms throughout the state.
  • Every Washingtonian deserves to feel safe. The WAC places the comfort of one group of people over the safety and privacy of everyone else.
  • WAC 16232 creates liabilities for businesses when they intervene to protect the safety and privacy of their customers.
  • The concern related to the rule is not that transgendered people are predators. The concern is that the subjective nature and ambiguous language of the rule creates opportunities for those who are.
  • Everyone should be kept safe from predators, but the WAC makes provisions in Washington’s Indecent Exposure and voyeurism laws impossible to enforce.
  • Free speech is a Constitutional right. The HRC’s Rule restricts free speech and sets dangerous precedents by penalizing reasonable inquiries.
  • The people of Washington deserve to know what their government is doing. The WAC, which governs 7 million people was passed by unelected bureaucrats with public input from a grand total of 46 people.

Things to Avoid Saying

  • Avoid ideological debates about transgenderism. This issue is not about transgender people. It is about safety and privacy for ALL.
  • Avoid inflammatory political jargon that insults people who may otherwise agree with you on this issue. This is not a uniquely conservative or liberal topic. Many people from both sides of the aisle oppose the regulation. Play nice.
  • Try to avoid using statistics and numbers unless you have concrete proof of their veracity.
  • Avoid referring to WAC 16232 as “the bathroom rule.” Utilize every opportunity possible to remind people that this transcends bathrooms. It’s about the hundreds of locker rooms and showering areas in the state, as well.

Beyond this, they have a list of the Top Five Reasons To Repeal The Rule as alternate talking points.

Thumbnail link: Washington's Just Want Privacy document entitled 'Top Five Reasons To Repeal The Rule' (posted April 11, 2016)

  1. It’s Discriminatory. In an attempt to include 3/10 of one percent of the population, the regulation has effectively discriminated against the majority, alienating people of every major faith tradition, sexual assault survivors, and many others.
  2. It’s Dangerous. Based on subjective standards, this is the Swiss Cheese of all regulations, containing multiple loopholes for predators to exploit and zero safeguards to penalize them when they do.
  3. Locker Rooms. While proponents of the rule would have you believe this is just about peeing in peace, they fail to acknowledge the reality that this opens the state’s thousands of locker room doors to mixed-sex nudity.
  4. It Penalizes Free Speech. Section 16232040 prohibits not only “unwelcome questions related to gender identity, but also the intentional “misgendering” of someone. So now if you’re unsure about someone’s expressed gender identity, you’re not allowed to ask for clarification, and you’re in trouble if you get it wrong.
  5. It Doesn’t Represent the People. The Human Rights Commission circumnavigated both the people and the legislators who represent them. They made a rule with dramatic implications for the 7 million residents of Washington after including only 46 of them in the conversation. We need a better option.

If you know this group’s talking points, you know much of the opposition’s talking points around the country. The talking points are going to be very similar — the opposition is nationally organized. And, you have to know what the opposition is thinking to even begin to adequately respond to it.

[su_asbottom]
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  1. I am part of the “Safe Alliance” group that is fighting this initiative. We go to their petition sites to try to combat /debunk the misinformation being spread by the Just Want Privacy hate group. I’ve heard all this rhetoric first hand and am horrified at how well it works for them. I keep copies of the state’s policy with me to try disprove the fear mongering but it’s a tough road. It will almost certainly make the ballot so we will have to rev up the resistance.

  2. I commented on Just Want Privacy facebook page and then they blocked me from commenting or liking their page. Soooo just because I disagree with them- they are going to block me? They are discriminating against me for having a different opinion- and used logic saying if i lock my house, that’s discrimination against homeless people- NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANS PEOPLE IN BATHROOMS IS DISCRIMINATION and has nothing to do with if I lock my house. You can’t block people just because they disagree- they obviously don’t want to talk or listen- they just want ti discriminate.

  3. How will “sex assigned at birth” (sex/gender as defined by this WA State initiative) be determined for those entering the restrooms? By whom? Will teachers and coaches be assigned the additional duty and expense of posting the “What’s in the pants” police at each restroom? And this at time when WA has yet to meet is education funding mandate set by its own Supreme Court and has no plan for such in the new legislative session, again. The authors of this initiative are not about providing a better education for WA students but rather advancing their transphobic agenda. If there is any doubt as this read the supportive posts on the Just Want Privacy Facebook page. Their fear and hate is palpable.

    1. See. It’s simple. Locker rooms, unlike restrooms, have never been “private”. Sure some have privacy stalls (the answer to those who want privacy), however changing takes place openly. They really expect everyone to buy that this is not an anti-trans initiative, what with no privacy concerns until…you know “men” want to change around us. It’s the “tranifest destiny” template passed around like used napkins from coast to coast to demonize trans persons once and forever. The stench of their deceit stinks to high heaven…

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