Hide and Go Peep, By Jeff Katz

Katz2By: Jeff Katz – Septeber 2013

As a married, suburban father of three, I long ago stopped pondering what goes on in the bedrooms of my neighbors even though I am sure that a sizeable percentage of them probably do get dressed up like sheep and shepherd and play a rousing game of where is Little Bo Peep. I have neighbors who are single, some who are married. Some straight, some gay. My advice for each and every one of them is to mow the lawn, shovel the snow and make sure to bring the garbage cans in. Past that, I don’t spend too much time worrying about the personal lives they are living.

California’s governor Jerry Brown has just signed a new law mandating that children in the public schools be allowed to use the bathroom and locker room of whatever gender they “identify” with. That is to say boys may use the facilities of the girls’ bathroom or ditch their clothes in the girls’ locker room, grab their soap on a rope and hit the shower. You know, boys will be boys except when they’re not, apparently. Likewise, girls are free to explore the boys’ lavatory and gaze in amazement at the engineering wonder which is the urinal. According to the governor and State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano who wrote this legislation, it is of the utmost importance that the so-called transgendered children feel completely and totally comfortable. What is apparently not of any concern at all is whether the non-transgendered kids are comfortable. Oh and in case you were wondering, Assemblyman Ammiano’s other legislative efforts are directed at allowing people to urinate in public areas. Great priorities, eh?

We are supposed to believe that these children are so confused that they must be allowed to use the opposite gender facilities so that they feel some degree of comfort. But as a former teenage boy, I can state without any hesitation there will be no confusion when the football players decide that they really would be more comfortable in the shower with the cheerleaders. Will anyone dare to ask those girls if they are comfortable and risk being tagged with the “hater” label? How about the comfort level felt by your children who have no confusion about who they are on any given day of the week.

If an adult wants to get rid of their issued equipment and they don’t ask me to pay for it, well then I say let bygones be bygones. But when an agenda driven advocate wants to use school children as pawns, I’ve got a problem with that. Instead of playing the part of twisted social engineer, perhaps we should teach our kids to respect each other, acknowledge their differences and have them mow that lawn.