Fight for Transgender Rights Gets a Boost from the Newman-Greene Feud in Congress

Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on Feb 26, 2021

But, as with former President Donald Trump, Greene has a lot of fans too, even if they like her opinions more than they like her.

Such is the case with hot buttons such as the rights of transgender students. Few culture war issues are easier to demagogue, especially among voters who already are unsettled by the feeling that America as we know and love it is falling apart — socially, economically, politically and morally.

“As mothers, we all love and support our children,” Greene tweeted over a video of Newman’s floor speech. “But your biological son does NOT belong in my daughters’ bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams.”

I appreciate her candor, but fears of cross-dressing muggers and other mythical stereotypes of transgender folks are beginning to fade as accommodations improve and experience crowds out ignorance.

In the push for “transgender” rights, a term that reportedly dates only to the mid-1960s, progress seems to occur through trial and error.

We have seen similar pushback from Americans who were nervous about other big social changes such as civil rights, women’s rights and same-sex marriage. Yet, just as an Ernest Hemingway character described his path to bankruptcy, I have seen public attitudes change in two ways: “Gradually, then suddenly.”

The biggest recent legal breakthrough came last June when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex. Significantly, the 6-3 ruling was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first appointee to the high court, and joined by fellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, along with the court’s four liberal justices.

More cases are expected to follow, as the high court tests out the arguments and impact that led to last year’s decision. That’s the way sensible change has come about in this country, as we try to balance the demands of majority rule against protection of minority rights.

One important question, also raised by Greene and others, is the protection of women’s sports and the safety of female athletes, if they are forced to integrate with male or transgender athletes. Many of these concerns have been overblown, but we need to take such concerns seriously.

That means paying attention to real science, not internet rumors.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)