GOP Bounties on Transpeople (Political Rant)

So I found an article that really disturbs me.  Read it HERE,  I'll wait.

For those who want a precis, here it is.  A Republican senator in Kentucky has proposed a $2500+ bounty for catching a transperson in the "wrong" bathroom.  In other words, a transwoman in the women's bathroom.

Sound unbelievable?  Here's the actual legislation.

Ok.  So this is Kentucky, and I live in Pennsylvania.  Why should I care?

Let's think this through shall we?  Kentucky currently has an unemployment rate of 6.0% which is higher than the national average.  3.8% of the state are on welfare (60,071)compared to the national average of 4.1%.  There's a lot of people in Kentucky needing money.

$2500 is a LOT of money to many people (including me.)  And that's not counting Attorney's fees AND monetary damages from the offending school for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered.  

Nothing in this subsection shall limit other remedies at law or equity available to the aggrieved student. 

Dear readers, the above underlined words are from the law itself.

That's huge payday for someone.

Think the teen trans suicide rate in Kentucky is going to skyrocket?  I do.

Right.  So if you knew that by hanging near the ladies rooms looking for people you think look mannish could gain you a payday, would you do it?  I'm sure some will.  (it seems they care only about MtF's as they think we're perverts.)

And how exactly would they make sure of this?  Only one way to be sure, dear reader, and that's to force the unfortunate person to strip or to grab said people's crotches.  Or similar.  Because I sure as hell am not showing my ID to every stranger who asks for it.  ("Papers please")

Folks, that's sexual assault.  The US had 293,000 cases of sexual assault last year.  In Kentucky, 1 in 9 women are sexually assaulted.  So of the 2,204,415 women living in Kentucky, that's 244,935, or 11.1%... in their lifetimes.

And after we're hauled into prison by these bounty hunters?  What then?  Assualt.  Possibly worse.

So.  they GOP is putting a price on our heads.  But wait, it's just some whack job senator from Kentucky, right?  Notice that the rest of the GOP are NOT shouting this lunatic down- and silence, as we know, means assent.  Will no one come to our defense?

Not the GOP.

Let's look at some history.  Every time extreme GOP legislation hits one state, it spreads to other "red states" like wildfire.  Usually this because of the Koch brothers owned and operated ALEC sends out "model legislation" to all the other states.

And guess what dear reader- the House and Senate of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania are GOP majorities who have often in the past rubber stamped ALEC legislation.

See why I'm worried?

Am I overly paranoid?  I hope so.  But this attack on transpeople by the GOP in one state is an attack on us all.

And yet some transpeople still actively support the GOP.  They are not shouting down the loonies either.  They vote FOR them.  I simply cannot wrap my head around that.  That's like Jews for Hitler.  Yes they existed.  (Verband nationaldeutscher Juden) And I'm sure they were really surprised to be shoved into the rail cars with all the other Jews headed for the Concentration camps.

What about the democrats?  None of them as yet have put a bounty on our heads.  In fact ALL (that's A-L-L) of the strides we've made in the past few years have come from democratic officials.  That includes our president.

The GOP has shown what they think of us.  They've declared war.

What are we prepared to do about it?

There's legal means- petitions, etc.  But the best way is to vote them OUT.  Every last one of the extremists.  Unfortunately, that's most of the party currently.

Even one more trans suicide is too many.  And the GOP are directly going to cause them.

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.