A Rape Survivor’s View of HB2- Elaina Portugal

April 20th, 2016

Dear North Carolina,

There is so much wrong with your HB2. Aside from the whole transgender/public bathroom smoke screen, you’ve legislated a whole range of other discrimination. It is no longer possible for anyone in the state to file a discrimination suit based on race, nation of origin, gender, age, and LGBT status, not just transgender, within the state. Any act of discrimination by an employer based on these factors must now be taken to federal courts.

You’ve also jeopardized millions and millions of educational dollars that you can’t afford to lose by violating Title IX. The federal government has already said that schools cannot discriminate against transgender students, but yet you feel you have the authority to do so. You also declared that no jurisdiction can legally raise the minimum wage above what the state and federal government have defined ensuring the poverty in your state continues. As if those issues aren’t bad enough, you’ve just paved the way for perverts and predators.

Oh, I know so many of your residents believe this asinine law is protecting its women and children from predators, but that’s propaganda bullshit. There are 17 states and 225 jurisdictions where transgender people can use the bathroom of the sex they identify with and there have been zero, ZERO, cases of predatory behaviors by transgender women. Zero. Nada. It ain’t happening. As a matter of fact, transgender women are the most victimized group in our society. They are the ones being attacked.

The other argument your lovely citizens spew is that Charlotte’s ordinance, the one that started this whole mess, made it possible for perverted men to claim they are transgender and want to use the women’s restroom, thereby giving them easy access.  What’s to stop predators from doing that now? Nothing. There are already instances where cisgendered men have dressed like women and have used this excuse to tape, watch, and expose themselves in a women’s bathroom. They didn’t need the excuse of an ordinance to do it. As a matter of fact, in these same states and jurisdictions who do have these ordinances, bathroom assaults have not increased. Why blame an entire group of our society for the illegal actions of another?

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and rape, I can tell you that molesters and predators don’t want to stand out. They look like your coach, your pastor, your neighbor, your uncle, your brother, your father, and any of the other trusted individuals in your life. Molesters don’t want to be noticed. They want to blend in, gain your trust, and then molest your children. Had someone told me that monsters don’t look like monsters, perhaps I wouldn’t have been raped at camp on the eve of my 6th birthday. Perhaps I would have known that if you fall in the mud and need a shower, a female camp counselor should take you. I might have known that it’s not normal for a 20 something year old man to call a little girl sexy. But I was taught to fear strangers, weird looking people, and anyone who looked different. So thanks North Carolina for sending out that false message and perpetuating the idiocy and misdirection. Four out of every five cases of sexual assault are committed by people we know and trust. Who look like everyone else, and the last person we would suspect. I would know.

But no, North Carolina, what you’ve done with HB2 is far more sinister and egregious than simple discrimination. You have convinced scores of people that molesters and perverts can be identified by how they look and how they dress. You’ve given the populace an image of what they should be looking for, leaving the door wide open for the real perpetrators. Did Coach Jerry Sandusky from Penn State teach you nothing?

My youngest son has been approached in a public bathroom, by a man, wearing pants, with his dick in his hand, asking for help. My friend’s son has been approached twice, by men, wearing pants, in the men’s bathroom, asking for help. North Carolina, your homophobia and twisted morals have molesters and predators jumping for joy. You’ve misdirected the attention of vulnerable people who could be prey to these predators. You’ve made transgender women who need to pee the target and now the real perpetrators can hide in plain sight. Just ask Jared.

Sincerely,

Elaina- A Survivor of Childhood Molestation and Rape

To read more of our letters, click on The Path!