To start his radio program yesterday, the man trying to make tinfoil sexy again, Glenn Beck, said this:
"Transgender bathrooms have come out of nowhere and are being jammed down our throat. I guarantee you, I guarantee you the next stop on this train is pedophilia. They will normalize pedophilia."
The slippery slope is a commonly used fallacy right-wing media personalities and politicians have resorted to over the years, especially when it comes to the LGBT community. When the debate was over gay marriage, these individuals would say, "If we legalize gay marriage, what next? Are we going to legalize polygamy? Bestiality? Pedophilia?" Now, I could potentially see polygamy being legalized, because like with marriages between heterosexual and homosexual couples, the relationship is between consenting adults. That isn't the case with regard to bestiality and pedophilia, however, which makes the comparison ludicrous. Similarly, Glenn Beck's slippery slope, as is often the case, misses the mark. According to him, it may have started with "normalizing" marriage between consenting adults of the same gender. Now we're attempting to "normalize" using public restrooms of the gender with which we identify. Then somehow he leaps from this to "normalizing" sexual feelings towards children. It's times like these I really have to wonder how Glenn Beck and his ilk ever passed a 5th-grade English class. They treat the words "transgender," "transvestite," and "pedophile" as synonymous when that's anything but the case. Allow me to explain the differences...
Transgender: "Noting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond to that person's biological sex assigned at birth."
Transvestite: "A person, especially a male, who assumes the dress and manner usually associated with the opposite sex."
Pedophile: "An adult who is sexually attracted to young children."
On the surface, none of these individuals have harmed anyone. However, if we were to look at them following through with the before-mentioned definitions, the only one who does any harm is the pedophile. Of what harm does a man do to another when he dresses up like a woman? Of what harm does a person do when he or she identifies with the opposite gender from that which they were born? Pedophiles, like alcoholics or those with anger-management issues, should seek help and be provided counseling and medication to prevent them from potentially harming anyone. But that's not the case with transgenders or transvestites. While they may be judged by some as being "strange," "confused," or "different," they're not harming anyone, and shouldn't be treated like those who do. Perhaps Glenn Beck should focus his attention less on transgendered women going to the women's bathroom and more on the Dennis Hastert's of the world using any public restroom.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-i-guarantee-you-next-stop-train-pedophilia
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/transgender
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/transvestite?s=t
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pedophile?s=t
"Transgender bathrooms have come out of nowhere and are being jammed down our throat. I guarantee you, I guarantee you the next stop on this train is pedophilia. They will normalize pedophilia."
The slippery slope is a commonly used fallacy right-wing media personalities and politicians have resorted to over the years, especially when it comes to the LGBT community. When the debate was over gay marriage, these individuals would say, "If we legalize gay marriage, what next? Are we going to legalize polygamy? Bestiality? Pedophilia?" Now, I could potentially see polygamy being legalized, because like with marriages between heterosexual and homosexual couples, the relationship is between consenting adults. That isn't the case with regard to bestiality and pedophilia, however, which makes the comparison ludicrous. Similarly, Glenn Beck's slippery slope, as is often the case, misses the mark. According to him, it may have started with "normalizing" marriage between consenting adults of the same gender. Now we're attempting to "normalize" using public restrooms of the gender with which we identify. Then somehow he leaps from this to "normalizing" sexual feelings towards children. It's times like these I really have to wonder how Glenn Beck and his ilk ever passed a 5th-grade English class. They treat the words "transgender," "transvestite," and "pedophile" as synonymous when that's anything but the case. Allow me to explain the differences...
Transgender: "Noting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond to that person's biological sex assigned at birth."
Transvestite: "A person, especially a male, who assumes the dress and manner usually associated with the opposite sex."
Pedophile: "An adult who is sexually attracted to young children."
On the surface, none of these individuals have harmed anyone. However, if we were to look at them following through with the before-mentioned definitions, the only one who does any harm is the pedophile. Of what harm does a man do to another when he dresses up like a woman? Of what harm does a person do when he or she identifies with the opposite gender from that which they were born? Pedophiles, like alcoholics or those with anger-management issues, should seek help and be provided counseling and medication to prevent them from potentially harming anyone. But that's not the case with transgenders or transvestites. While they may be judged by some as being "strange," "confused," or "different," they're not harming anyone, and shouldn't be treated like those who do. Perhaps Glenn Beck should focus his attention less on transgendered women going to the women's bathroom and more on the Dennis Hastert's of the world using any public restroom.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-i-guarantee-you-next-stop-train-pedophilia
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/transgender
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/transvestite?s=t
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pedophile?s=t
Comments
Post a Comment