An old anecdote that's surprisingly relevant

When I was about 12 years old, my family took a trip to Las Vegas for my Grammy's (maternal grandfather's mother) 85th Birthday party.  It was somewhat of a family reunion, and kind of a big deal.  I don't remember much about Grammy, she was a small frail woman who was wheeled outside to smoke cigars and drink martinis until the day she died.  This was also the trip where I learned to french braid my own hair.  This is not the relevant part.

We stayed at the Excalibur Hotel, during that time when Las Vegas was trying to be more family friendly.

It's just like Disneyland!  We Promise!

There was a small area of shops around a small stage above the arcade where my sister and I spent hours watching shows and spending our money on rock candy.  One of the acts was a quick change artist.  It was a couple, man and a woman, and I was very impressed having never seen such a thing before.  A few hours later I went to the restroom and ran into the woman in the act, and told her I liked her act very much.  She thanked me nicely, although I don't believe she spoke very much english, and I realized that she was a drag queen.

I know we don't call them drag queens anymore, they are transsexuals or some other politically correct term, but it was a man dressed as a woman.  At the age of 12, I was not at all shocked to encounter her in the women's restroom, and as the subject becomes increasingly popular, I find I still, 18 years later, am not shocked or appalled by transsexual females in women's restrooms.  I don't care what's in their pants, I don't care if they are doing a good job at "passing" as a woman.  I just plain don't  care, and don't really understand why other people have such a problem.

She doesn't understand your problem either

I guess anything outside of normal is too much for the frail people of Tennessee, where a bill has been introduced to make it illegal to use the "incorrect" restroom.  This, I have a problem with, not just because legislating bigotry is wrong, but because I personally, have used a men's restroom on more than one occasion, and if it's warranted, will do so again, legal or not.

When you gotta go...

I guess I'm just not good at being a bigot.  I should be taking this recently recalled memory of meeting a drag queen as an adolescent and start a crusade against people who are different than I.  Well, I'm not gonna.  I have better things to do than hate on people who have it tough enough already.  If I want to get my hate on, I'll start cheering for a sports team, or read the local news here in Abu Dhabi.  Maybe watch that movie where the talking cats and dogs start a war or something.  I dunno.  But it won't be hating on people who are different than I am.

I'll be too busy asking them for hair and make-up advice