Gavin Grimm is a brave young, transgendered woman who identifies as being a young man. He needs to use the little boys’ room. Five big men won’t let him.
Five U.S. Supreme Court justices voted to uphold Gloucester County (Va) School Board’s right to appeal the decision that allowed Gavin to go to school and pee where he wanted to. That not being the converted janitor’s closet the school district kindly arranged for him, but where the other boys in his high school go.
Since he prefers having the look of a young man, it kind of figures why he doesn’t want to do his business in the lavatory he was born to use. Why didn’t the Supreme Court just leave Gavin alone so he didn’t have to go back to using the old janitor’s closet alone?
The public restroom wars have been given a rest in mass media coverage. There is a strong preoccupation with whether the next president of the United States will piss standing up or sitting down. Fewer people are paying attention to Gavin’s squirming wait.
There should be no public relief from this story. This story is very much about the future of men.
Here is a story about a girl who grew up to be a boy and is now a young man. Mr. Grimm wants to do what most young men do. He is told he can’t do it. Gavin won’t give up. No such person in the USA has ever demonstrated such determination. They should name this degree of determination after him. It could be called “Gavin Determination.” (Grim determination is already taken).
I believe that Gavin is holding it for the benefit of all men. This girl-turned-boy-turned-man is a pioneer in not just breaking out of the confines of the “man box,” but of blowing the box into pieces, so the pieces can become the dust of a primitive age.
Picture a world where you can wear whatever you want and nobody cares. This girl has grown to be a leader of men seeking a way out.
A world where human beings care little if you are a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, as you go about your public life is really quite doable. What we now consider to be critical public information could transform into the way we publicly treat one’s medical health situation. Personal and private.
Members of such a culture would share their abilities to inseminate and ovulate as they saw fit. There would be no feminine hygiene product shelving in pharmacies. If you needed something to absorb blood for any reason you wouldn’t need that kind of help to know where to look.
Now, if you wanted to be involved in the breeding of children, it might take a little longer to narrow your search as to who you want to ask what their astrological sign is and would they like to join you for a cup of coffee, but I think that would be a good thing. That would be a very good thing.
So, first we liberate the boys’ rooms in U.S. schools, public and private. Maybe then we could get serious about preventing sexual assault.
Many men don’t get this. Nearly all women do. Any clue that public awareness of the consequences of sexual assault is increasing, is very valuable indeed. If you know the warning signs of sexual assault, you have a better chance to avoid unwanted pregnancy, severe tissue damage, horrifying post-traumatic stress disorder and death by serial rapist.
The clearest warning sign would be someone who looks like a man would be nearby. Now it would be easier if you could tell by the clothes, accessories or tattoos which men pose the biggest threat of sexually assaulting you, but you can’t. All you can statistically go on, is to watch out for somebody who looks like they might be a man.
Go ahead. Take a minute to come up with an argument supporting this isn’t true. Then read on or not.
One of the biggest barriers for men to get out of the man box is the disease of sexual assault. It seems to be linked to the “Y” chromosome. It is a genetic disorder which is difficult to treat.
Is sexual assault, just one more social problem? Goodness knows we have a bunch of them. Or is preventing sexual assault a key to the dawn of social justice like the world has never known?
Please take a minute to picture that world before you answer.
Movement in the right direction is happening at a staggering pace. In the USA, we have gone from “No, don’t, stop” means “No don’t stop,” to “No means no,” to only “Yes Means Yes” in my lifetime and I’m not dead yet.
The horror of sexual assault is increasing not in amount or degree, but in perception. What is allowable is becoming more and more refined. We are becoming more and more impatient of what could be done that isn’t. From untested forensic DNA samples, to the lack of rape myth education for police departments and potential jurors that one day may hear sexual assault case presentations in court rooms, we are tired of holding it.
Media has exposed that yes, rich men, famous men, talented men with a lot to lose, do sometimes indeed rape. Men who are sexually attractive to many, many women who seemingly have no motive to engage in sexual contact with those who don’t want it, do. Media has begun to reveal the disgusting vastness of sex slave trafficking.
While what is revealed is disgusting, the revelation can bring hope.
It was news to me that sex dolls in the shape of children were just banned from import into the United States. I never thought about their being such a thing. It makes me want to vomit when I think about the lack of funding that goes into the treatment of pedophilia to protect children. Where is the toilet?
Gavin Grimm wanting to proudly pee, seems unrelated to sexual assault and as it is often discussed it is. The line of illogic that a girl who identifies with being a boy using the boys’ room is a slippery slope to making it easier for men posing as women to facilitate rape in public lavatory stalls, is not beside the point.
If that is where you are stuck you are missing the point.
The USA is supposed to be about “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If your pursuit of happiness includes sexual assault you should not be at such liberty to perform that act, anywhere. If your pursuit of happiness includes being able to walk in a wilderness setting and not feel a need to assess the rape risk potential of another human being coming forward on the trail, Gavin Grimm is standing up for you.
Maybe there should be a movement to recruit men, who are willing to pledge that they will not stand up when they have to pee until Gavin can have a seat in the boys’ lavatory.
It is for sure, that with the recent Supreme Court decision the day will come when Gavin is not in High School, as he now is entering his Senior Year.
I would love to have a preview of his speech he will no doubt deliver at his high school graduation.
Go Gavin!
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