All language subtitles for The Most Dangerous Year (2018)_en

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Wait, tell me again the whole
list of all the things.

-Okay.
-What are you gonna be?

-Tell me again.
-I'm gonna be a singer,

artist, photographer,

fashion designer.

Mm-hm.

And someone that works
in a restaurant.

So I'm gonna be really busy.

Like a chef,
you want to cook things?

Yeah, I'm gonna be really busy.

-You are.
-You are gonna be busy.

You're gonna be too busy
to see us.

Well, I might visit you
at some times.

You'll visit us sometime?

You said we could visit you,

like in Paris or in Hawaii
or something.

I'm gonna live in Hawaii, so. .

You're gonna live in Hawaii?

Wow, that's cool.

This is my youngest daughter.

Do you like my drawing, Mom?

She's five.

Yeah, I think it's beautiful.

These are her older brother
and sister,

and her daddy.

My youngest daughter
is a transgender girl.

That means that she was born
with a body

that's typically associated
with a boy.

Which of course led me
and my husband to assume

she was a boy
when she was born.

Little Bunny, Biddle Bunny,

time for you to go.

But when she was three,
she began to tell us

that she was
actually a girl,

and we slowly
began to realize

that our assumption
about her gender. .

I think I'm gonna be a great
everything I wanna do.

might have been wrong.

It was a terrifying time for us.

She just decided she'll be good
at everything she does.

I have no doubt.

Sometimes I wonder
if he's really red at all.

My husband and I went through
the process

of accepting our daughter's
true identity

with the help of this man. .

-Hazel.
- . Aidan Key.

A transgender man himself,

he's the founder
of a support group

for parents
of transgender kids.

And while that support group
helped us get through

one of the most difficult years
of our lives,

we had no idea
that the following year

we would be doing something
even more difficult:

Fighting for
our child's civil rights.

But when we're talking
about kids,

transgender is pretty simple.

And this is more in use,

this definition is more in use
by families,

by medical and mental health
providers,

that transgender more so
just means a kid

who might be born female,
say, and identifies as a boy.

Before we met, Aidan had been
working for years

as a consultant
to Washington state schools,

helping them create
transgender-inclusive

environments and policies
for their students.

After almost
20 years of work

related to transgender people
and issues,

there's really something
different going on right now.

The question of same-sex
marriage has been established

by the highest court
in the nation,

and all of those who fought
so strongly against it

for their multiple reasons
are now left with a, "Now what?"

Now what?

And that despair,
that frustration,

that disillusionment,

and the. . what I have to assume
is a fierce optimism

that it's not done yet,
we're still fighting is now. .

those who fought against it

are now focusing
on transgender issues.

True to Aidan's prediction,

by early 2016, news reports
of so-called "bathroom bills"

began to surface.

A Republican lawmaker
from the Upper Peninsula

wants to make it illegal
for transgender students

to use bathrooms
or locker rooms

that don't match
their birth sex.

A new proposal in Illinois
could have separate bathrooms

for transgender
high school students.

Because of this
unprecedented wave

of anti-transgender legislation,

the Human Rights Campaign
issued a report calling 2016

"The Most Dangerous Year
for Transgender Americans. "

In our own state
of Washington,

a total of six such bathroom
bills were introduced

into our state senate and
the House of Representatives.

The news of these
bathroom bills

stunned every family
in our support group.

It's almost unbelievable.

It's 2016.

I don't understand it
and it's scary, it is so scary.

There's a lot of people being
affected by this stuff.

And at the same time,
I have to know

that, you know,
love is going to win over fear.

There was also just such
a gut level reaction of,

"This is my state. "

Realizing that it was happening
in Washington

was really painful
because it just felt, you know,

kind of like your own home
has been broken into.

Of course, by this point many
parents of transgender kids

knew exactly
what discrimination

against transgender youth
would mean.

This was a matter
of life and death.

2015, there was a young trans girl,

Leelah Alcorn that was
a young trans girl

who committed suicide.

And her suicide note
said something about,

"Please fix the world. "

Then there was just this deluge
of families calling us

starting right after
the holidays last year.

I think many families
just realized that, you know,

their child could die.

You know, it wasn't just
a phase or. .

there's interesting things
that families come up with

to try to figure out what's
going on with their kid.

And they started
figuring out, maybe,

that they wanted their child
to be alive.

The Washington State Senate
is taking up a bill

aimed at overturning
the controversial law

that allows transgender people
to use the restroom

or even the locker room of
the gender they identify with.

This law in question
has actually been around

for a decade.

Why is this becoming
an issue just now?

Well, that's right, Nadine.

This rule was enacted
in December.

However, it's just clarifying
some anti-discrimination laws

that have been in effect
since 2006.

However, bringing it to light
has brought up concerns

that potential sex offenders
will abuse that law

to find victims in
public bathrooms like these.

Out of the six bathroom bills
in our state,

Senate Bill 6443
had the highest chance

of making it
to the senate floor for a vote.

This legislation
is very simple.

It repeals the rule
which is commonly known

as "men in the women's
locker room. "

On January 27th, the senate
committee in charge of this bill

held a public hearing
to hear statements on the issue

from the community.

As a husband and a father,
one of my highest duties

is the physical protection
of my family.

There will be three groups
of men in the women's bathrooms

as a result of this Human Rights
Commission ruling.

The first group
are those who self-identify,

that there's. . have a mix-up
between the identification

of their biology
and what they think.

Secondly is a group
who are the sexual predators.

Third is the group
that I'm composed of,

fathers and brothers
and sisters and husbands

that are going to be concerned
about the protection

of their own people
in those restrooms

who are going to be
checking them out.

The HRC mandate
opens the door

to pedophiles
and to traffickers

in women's restrooms
and locker rooms,

which are vulnerable places
for women and children.

Because if this policy allowing
youth and adult males

to indiscriminately use
bathrooms and locker rooms

traditionally set aside
for males and females,

does not repeal,
these places will become

a feeding ground
for sexual offenders.

As an officer of the law,
I am sure you're also concerned

about the fact
that individuals

who are either
children or adults

who are transgender
are disproportionately victims

of attack and harassment
and physical violence.

And I'm hoping
that we can understand

that putting these
vulnerable individuals

into a place where they become
more vulnerable to attack,

we are doing everybody
a disservice.

So how would you protect
the individuals

who are probably the most
vulnerable in this issue?

You know, having a place
that's separate for them,

I know that they may feel
discriminated against by that,

but, I mean,
in my opinion

it's as simple as which
equipment you have.

And if you're a male
with male equipment,

then you should use
the male restroom.

And if you're a female. .

Because what you're. .
these people,

you know, the people
that are transgender,

the people that identify
as a different male or female

are not necessarily
the sex offenders.

But because
if you open this up,

if you open up the ability
of a sex offender

to go into a restroom claiming
that they're somebody else,

then you're opening up
that possibility

that they're gonna use
that as a way to victimize.

Quick follow-up.

Quick follow-up.

I'm concerned that this sort of
separate but equal segregation

is going backwards
and not forwards,

so let's think really deeply
about that, please.

So we found out
that the (unintelligible)

and we were being asked
to testify.

All that happened
at the same exact time.

It's something that not
every parent could have done

because they're trying to make
sure that their children

are staying safe
and not very public.

And so, one,
we were being public.

Two, we were actually
looking for, you know,

a way to be able
to contribute.

Yes, it was quite scary.

And it was exactly
the right place

for us to be at that time.

My name is Ryan Trainer.

I'm the proud father
of four beautiful children.

We live in Federal Way.

My wife, Meg,
stays at home with our kids

and I work 12-hour shifts
as an RN

at Good Samaritan Hospital
in Puyallup.

Our daughter was born
with a penis,

so we originally thought
she was a boy.

As early as two years old,
she's been wearing dresses

and asking for long hair
and earrings.

When she was four
she asked Meg,

"Why did God make me a boy,
Mommy,

when I'm really a girl?"

We had no idea
what to make of this.

We didn't even know the word
"transgender" at that time.

We began to learn of
the extremely high rates

of anxiety, depression,
and suicide that occur

when these kids are forced
to suppress who they are.

Tell me this.

How do I explain
to my sweet little girl

when I tuck her in at night
that she can't use

the girls' bathroom because
people who make our laws

think that there's something
wrong with her,

something scary, threatening,
and deviant about her?

How do I do that?

This is our child.

Like everyone here, we are doing
our best to love her,

to support her,
and to keep her safe.

She is deserving of respect
and protection,

just like all other children
in Washington state.

Please don't take this
away from her.

We need to protect
our children,

and they do not need
to walk in and see

a person of the opposite sex's
genitalia.

Having been a victim. . a survivor
of sexual abuse myself,

don't need to walk in
and get post-traumatic shock.

Has that happened
to you before?

Have you been
in that situation

in a public facility
or a public restroom?

Not in a public facility
at this point in time.

You know, it's a safety issue,
not just physical safety

but emotional
and psychological safety

for women that have been
terribly victimized already

through sexual assault
or being molested.

Do you know of cases where
people have been assaulted

by a sexual predator
in a bathroom?

I do know people
who have been assaulted.

Right, but a case
where there's a bathroom

where a man dresses up
as a woman in order to assault. .

I can't say I know
of anybody specifically

that has had that
happen to them.

People can use this to prey upon
the vulnerable,

the disabled,
the minor girls.

I feel sorry for people
that are transgender.

You know,
I'm very sorry for those

who are confused
about their gender.

But I think it needs
to go with the genitalia,

not what they think they are,

otherwise everyone else
is at risk.

Okay.

At risk for?

Possible abuse, whether it's
visual or sexual or pedophiles.

Not saying transgenders are. .

After the hearing, the senate
committee allowed SB 6443

to progress to the senate floor
for a vote.

This vote would be held
in February.

I understand that
there are people out there

who are being told that allowing
transgender individuals

to use the correct bathroom
will lead to danger

for themselves or, even worse,
for their children.

And that can
be a very powerful threat

or a very powerful way
to instill fear in people.

But let's be clear.

There's no documented evidence
that people who are transgender

are any more likely
to be predators

than the general population.

There's no reason to believe
that individuals

using the bathroom that fits
their gender identity

leads towards any
of these sorts of acts,

and so I think it's an attempt
to try to broaden the appeal

of this socially conservative
measure

by getting people
to see a bogeyman

where there simply isn't one.

The senate hearing
made one thing very clear.

The level of fear
of sexual predators

associated with
transgender people

using bathrooms and locker rooms
was very high.

I asked Officer James Ritter,

a 36-year veteran with
the Washington State Police,

about this perceived threat.

In my 36 years
of law enforcement

both in Eastern Washington
and in the city of Seattle,

I have never heard of,
seen, read about,

or responded to a call involving
a transgender person

assaulting anyone
in any restroom.

I also have never heard
of a non-transgender person

dressing up
as a transgender person

for the purpose of going into
a public restroom or facility

in an attempt to assault
individuals therein.

In fact, in the 225 cities
across the nation,

where transgender
anti-discrimination protections

had been in place
for years,

the crime statistics
showed zero evidence

of a systemic increase
in predatory crimes

as a result of transgender
people using bathrooms

and locker rooms that aligned
with their gender identity.

To address the fear
that predators could exploit

the anti-discrimination rule,

the Humans Rights Commission
released a detailed document

clarifying that it was not legal
to enter a public facility

under false pretenses,

that it was legal
to call the authorities

or ask a person to leave if they
were behaving inappropriately,

and that no business or
individual could be penalized

for removing a person
who claimed to be transgender

but wasn't.

There's a lot
of misinformation

about the Human Rights
Commission's action

and the rule
that they came out with.

The idea that a man can just
one day wake up in the morning

and dress up as a woman
and then go and exploit that

in a public restroom
is completely false.

And there's been
additional guidance

from the attorney
general's office,

from the Human Rights Commission

that's been clear that gender
identity is more

than just the clothes
you put on in the morning.

It's a consistent expression
that you hold closely

and that you hold
consistently.

And I think that's what
is getting lost

in a lot of this conversation.

The foundation for equating
lack of safety

with transgender people
is where the problem lies.

It's the representation
that we've gathered

along the way in life.

The media representations,

movies with
transgender characters

have been really negative
portrayals,

ugly, ugly portrayals

that indicate things
like sexual deviancy

or criminal behavior
or criminally insane.

It's portrayed as,
in its most benign form,

as something to mock
and ridicule,

but also something
that's very repulsive.

♪ My only sunshine ♪

♪ You make me happy
when skies are gray ♪

♪ You'll never know, dear,
how much I love you ♪

♪ Please don't take
my sunshine away ♪

♪ The other night, dear,
as I lay sleeping ♪♪

On the national level,
an anti-transgender bill

called HB2 in North Carolina
was making headlines.

It was one of the most sweeping
discriminatory bills

in the country that banned
civil rights protections

for LGBTQ North Carolinians,

and it was signed into law
by the state's Governor McCrory

on the same day that it was
passed in the state senate.

Meanwhile, some transgender kids
across the country

were beginning to make news of
their own

by suing their school districts
for the right to use

the bathrooms that aligned
with their gender identity.

One of
the civil rights attorneys

working on
these national cases

spoke with me about
some of the arguments

being presented in support
of these bathroom bills.

When a state agency or a law

discriminates against
a group of people,

you have to have a really good
reason for doing it.

It can't just be based on fears
that someone who is a criminal

is gonna abuse it or. .
you know,

it has to be based on something
that's actually a problem.

And so these laws don't. .
they don't meet that standard.

You know, one of the things
that came up,

not in the context of what
happened in Washington,

but in North Carolina
around HB2,

Governor McCrory
kept on saying,

"We're just bringing it back
to common sense

and how we regularly expect
and access restrooms. "

And the reality is that
we all access restrooms

based on gender identity.

We don't actually
access restrooms

based on our birth certificate,
based on anatomy,

or based on all these other. .

chromosomes
or anything like that.

We go based on gender identity.

And the reality is that doing
anything different is, one,

very invasive, right,

can you imagine getting
your genitals checked

before you go
into a restroom.

No one would ever
agree to that.

And also really unworkable.

I mean, how many people
would it take

to really supervise
that many restrooms.

And so, really,
we all access restrooms

based on gender identity,

and we need to, again, really
focus on making those spaces

safe for all people

and making sure that people
behave appropriately

in those spaces,
because regardless

of whether or not a trans
person's in there,

people should be
behaving appropriately.

I had. . somebody mentioned a. .

I don't know
if it's a school that said,

"No, we can't have
that book here. "

Do you know about it?

It's about a crayon that
accidentally got a red wrapper.

It's a blue crayon.

And how this crayon is trying
to say, "But I'm blue. "

While SB 6443 was being debated
and considered in the senate,

Aidan was embarking
on a new assignment

to create
a transgender-inclusive policy

in the Snohomish
School District,

where our friend and transgender
girl, Ve'Andre,

was a student.

This is me and my brother,

who is very supportive,

like my number one supporter.

There's just some of my. .
I have a lot more,

but I didn't bring 'em all.

I had bathroom issues,

like I would stop myself
from going to the bathroom

or drinking liquids so I didn't
have to go to the bathroom.

I would like people to know that
my daughter is not a threat,

that she goes into the bathroom
just like everyone else

and uses the bathroom
just like anybody else.

And washes her hands and leaves,
just like everyone else.

She's not coming in there
to hurt anyone.

She's not going in there to
make anyone feel uncomfortable.

She just wants to use
the bathroom, that's all.

And you're still
hanging in there, wow.

Back to backs, I haven't even
had a beer yet.

That's wrong.

Look, it's almost five
on a Friday.

This is unacceptable.

And we've got six schools

that have transgender students
in them,

and, you know,
both of our high schools

each have two students.

So we're talking
about around eight or nine

transgender families,
transgender students.

If I don't walk people through
that gender framework first,

we're all over the map.

And there is. . there is
an important piece

that comes as a result,

and that is if I have that board
and have the ability

to talk about these
different categories,

when someone asks
a specific question,

I can reference which aspect
we're talking about.

Gender identity, defined,

is simply a person's innate
sense of their own gender.

This is the key
to understanding

the experience
of these children.

And that's really helpful,

especially when I say we have
to get this out of the context

of some type
of sexual orientation,

we've gotta get out
of that mindset.

Ultimately, I put this in a
different color because this. .

When I'm doing my work
in schools,

I want this aspect
off the table.

I want those teachers
to recognize,

this is what we are
not talking about.

This isn't. .
being transgender

is not some type
of sexual orientation.

People are really confusing
the concept of gender

with the concept
of sexual orientation.

And it is true that,
by and large,

people don't tend to know
what kind of person

they're gonna be
romantically interested in

until a lot later.

But that's actually
a separate process,

as far as we know,
from gender.

So gender really comes on
quite early,

around age three kids are able
to identify their gender,

whereas who you're
attracted to romantically

doesn't typically come on until,
you know,

late elementary school
or even middle school age.

It's about basic things,
it's about privacy,

it's about respect,
it's about compassion.

All of these things, yeah.

And empathy, yeah.

-It's just. .
-Right.

And so, this is just. .
and it's about conversation,

it's about relationships.

I don't know why
water is clear,

but when people draw it
it's blue.

Yeah, it's clear, but people
usually draw it blue

because the blue sky
reflects on the water

and makes it a bluish color.

Sometimes it's green,
sometimes it's gray.

Sometimes it's grayish green
like this,

and olive green.

Yep.

Sometimes it's even brownish.

That's true.

Trans women are women too!

They need to pee,
just like you!

They need to pee,
just like you!

Trans women are women too!

Trans women are women too!

They need to pee,
just like you!

They need to pee,
just like you!

Trans women are women too!

Trans women are women too!

They need to pee,
just like you!

They need to pee,
just like you!

I am Huddle,
this is my son, Matt.

And I'm Susie,
this is my grandson, Matt.

And I'm Neil, and this is
my grandson, Matt.

Because my son
is transgender

and uses the boys' bathroom
at school,

and we wanted to make sure
that he can continue

to use the boys' bathroom.

Can I say something?

I don't want to show
my genitalia to people.

He was really suicidal
for a period of time,

and this is kind of
before we knew, really,

that he was a boy.

I would talk with a counselor
and say,

"What are we supposed
to say to my son. .

well, my daughter at the time,

like, when he's saying
all this stuff,

what am I supposed to say?"

"Oh, just tell him
that he's confused. "

That went on for about a year
and I started feeling

really uncomfortable
as a parent.

Like intuitively,
that felt really wrong.

Like why am I telling my son
it's confusing

when he continually
is telling me he's a boy?

And so, finally I went
to the counselor and I said,

"You know, this isn't working. "

It was kind of at that point
where I realized, you know,

my son has been telling me this
for over a year now,

I need to start listening.

He's not having
the problem with it,

I'm having the problem
hearing it.

Let's see what the Ender Dragon
looks like in Halo.

-What?
-Wow.

Oh, I can. . I made it.

Oh yeah, I made it
in the desert.

I'm gonna put on some armor
just because I want to.

Where am I?

To help better explain
gender development,

I went to see
Dr. Kristina Olson

at the University
of Washington.

She was conducting

a groundbreaking
longitudinal study

of transgender youth
that were accepted

and supported by their families
and communities.

Her study was yielding
some interesting results.

First of all, it turns out
that when we look

at a bunch of socially-supported
transgender kids,

they actually look
remarkably similar

to other kids who have the same
gender identity as them.

In fact, on all the standard
measures of gender development

that we've looked at so far,

there has been no measure
on which they don't look

exactly like other kids
who share their gender.

So that means across all these
variety of measures,

whether kids know it's testing
gender or not,

we're seeing that the
transgender kids really look

like the gender
that they say they are.

We looked at a subset
of about 70

socially-transitioned
transgender kids,

and what we've discovered

is that unlike
all the literature

that ever existed before,

these are transgender kids
who are doing very, very well.

So they show completely typical
rates of anxiety and depression,

the same level
as their siblings,

the same level as the controls
who are unrelated to them.

And this suggests to us
that this often perceived view

that transgender people are
definitely going to have anxiety

and depression issues
doesn't have to be the case.

What does it mean to you
to be a girl?

It means that I could be
who I am and be happy.

And that means that I could
have fun being who I am.

I had already seen the anguish
that my child went through

before her father and I accepted
her for who she was.

But I was also learning about
that painful experience

from transgender adults
who had to survive

nearly a lifetime without
support and acceptance.

Sometime between three and four,
we begin to know who we are.

And I remember being three years
old and lying in bed crying,

wondering how
God made this mistake,

because I was told
that God didn't make mistakes,

but I knew that I was a girl.

And how could God
have done this?

How could I have been put
in the wrong body?

I got beaten up from 5th grade
till 11th grade.

I actually had to have
several different ways

that I walked home from school
because bullies would ambush me.

And I lost the fight
every single time.

Children who grow up
in a supportive environment

and have the support
of the medical community

and who have therapy to help
deal with the hostility

that we face
in the larger world,

grow up to be wonderful. .

I'm sure they'll grow up
to be wonderful, happy,

productive human beings.

This is very new
and different information

from our society's perspective,

and I can understand it
being a bit hard to swallow.

I just think that, you know,
God made us male and female,

and we need to honor that.

And I do have compassion for
those who are confused and. .

So, given our society's
historical thinking

on what makes us
male or female,

what information do we have now
to help us better understand

the reality of sex and gender
development in human beings?

I spoke with
Doctors Kevin Hatfield

and Johanna Olson-Kennedy,

both leading experts
in healthcare

for transgender youth.

Because we now have recent
studies about the brain,

we really are understanding
that being transgender

is not related to any type
of medical illness

or even mental illness.

We now know that there are
places in the brain

that help identify our own
personal sense of gender,

and if that area looks one way
you would feel feminine,

if it looks another way
you might feel masculine.

So it's no different than
inheriting brown eye color

or right-handedness
or curly hair.

It is one of those things

that just is determined genetically

that you have no choice over.

We have wrapped
our heads easily,

as a medical
and scientific community,

around the idea that
if everything starts

from the sex chromosomes,

there's an expected trajectory

that is the most common
trajectory.

So if you have, for example,
XY chromosomes,

there's an expectation that
you're going to develop

a penis and testicles,
male reproductive tract,

and for the most part
that does happen.

But we also understand
there are trajectories

that go off of that
expected trajectory.

What they were referring to

was some of the latest
scientific research,

which showed that,
first of all,

sex chromosomes don't always
come in the XX or XY variety.

There exist other
possible combinations,

and sometimes a person
may not even know

that their own sex chromosomes
don't fall

into one of the more common
categories.

As to the development
of genitals,

there are also multiple
variations in human beings

that do not conform
to the most expected versions

of male and female anatomy.

And finally there's gender
development in the brain,

which doesn't happen at the same
time as genital development.

It happens afterwards.

And what brain scientists
are finding

is that rather than just
being male and female,

the human brain appears to be
more of a so-called mosaic

of maleness and femaleness.

This mosaic varies
across individuals

and can occasionally result
in a gender identity

that is different from
what would be expected

given a person's
reproductive anatomy.

The preliminary results
look like the brains

of trans adults
are hybrid,

so that some parts of it
are masculinized,

some parts of it
are feminized,

particularly in these areas
of the brain

look closer to
the gender of identity

than the assigned sex
at birth.

The chromosomes
can be one thing,

the genitalia can be
something else,

and the gender identity can
very clearly be different

from both of those things.

I think it is important
to understand

that people's gender identity
isn't something

that they pull out of the air
or that they. .

that's something
outside of their body

and their genes
and their physicality.

It's there, it's coded,

and most likely
that coding lives

in those sections
of the brain.

One of these reasons these bills
would have been so difficult

and challenging
and inappropriate

for our business community
and for citizens generally

is that they would
have essentially made

business owners
or anyone who has some business

or some organization
that's open to the public

become gender police,

where they're checking
on people's genitals,

where they are maybe
requiring a test

that prove what
your genetic makeup is somehow,

when we know that
that's not actually what defines

someone's gender identity, and
when science has told us that.

Despite all the available
information

about crime statistics and what
it means to be transgender,

support for SB 6443
still seemed high,

and the families
from our support group

were very worried it would be
passed by the senate.

We continued
to contact the senators

and urged them
to vote against the bill,

up until the day
before the vote.

The rules will be suspended,

Senate Bill 6443
be advanced to third reading,

second reading
considered the third

the vote will be placed
on final passage.

Not one person
has been harmed

because a transgender person
used the bathroom.

On February 10th, the only
anti-transgender bill

that made it to the Washington
State Senate floor

was voted on.

We have to put
civil rights first,

we always have as a country.

And then what's disappointing
about this is that,

you know,
you saw a wave of state-level

Defense of Marriage acts
in the '90s,

including in Washington state,
and then, you know,

a lot of the people
who supported those bills

now have had to come around
and say,

"Oh, you know, my thinking
on this has evolved. "

So what I've encouraged
my friends

who are more conservative to do
is take this opportunity

to be on the right side
of history

the first time around.

-Darneille.
-In the end,

SB 6443 was defeated
by just one vote,

with three Republican senators
breaking with their party

and voting against
the discriminatory bill.

One of those three Republicans
was Senator Joe Fain.

Yeah, he was actually
pretty good last night,

and my excuse
is not for being tardy. .

I opposed it
and the bill failed.

It's been a difficult issue
to go through,

it's a very charged issue
for a lot of people.

And it really comes down
to fear.

I have an obligation
to stand before

the people
that I represent

and explain
why I do what I do,

why I vote how I vote,
why I think how I think.

And that's why that town hall
was so important.

So I listened to the people

that were frustrated,
that were fearful,

and I listened to the people
that were thankful.

All right, Senator Fain.

Okay, this week in Seattle,

there's a big story,
it went national,

about a man who was found
in a women's locker room

shower and bathroom
at a municipal pool.

Also, you voted against,
as the Senate Majority Leader,

Floor Leader,

you voted against a bill that
would have put a stop to that,

with only two
other Republicans,

and we had two Democrats
voting for it.

So do you think you represented
your district here

in the best interest
of Washington state

with making that vote?

I should add that the police
were not called.

So this is the kind of anarchy
that you have allowed

to continue in the bathrooms,
showers, and locker rooms.

So, I recognize that
there are a lot of folks

that are disappointed with
that vote the other day.

And I'll just start off. .

So, to start with
your first point

about the gentleman
that was in Seattle.

What he did two months ago,
two months from now is illegal.

It's illegal.

Call the cops.

Get him out of there.

I. . I know that
this is a tough issue

and I know there's a lot of fear
around this issue,

and I am not trying to be
unsympathetic because I know

that it is. . it is
a difficult thing.

But, you know, for 10 years now
in this state,

since 2006,
since the passage

of the Anderson-Murray
Non-Discrimination Law,

transgender individuals
have had the right

to use the bathroom
of their gender identity.

That is. . that is their right.

And I know that there is
frustration because I know

a lot of folks have come to me
and said, you know,

"How do you think your district
would have wanted you to vote?"

You know, there's polling,
there's this, there's that.

I love surveying you guys.

I hope that you're all
on my email list.

I send out constant surveys,

I want to know
what you're thinking.

It really does change my mind
on issues.

But on issues of individual
rights and personal dignity

and constitutional rights,

I don't put that up for a poll.

I'm gonna vote my principles.

At the meeting, a family
came up to me beforehand

to talk about the vote
and to talk about the issue

and to share a picture
of their daughter.

We had decided to make
a little 8. 5 x 11 piece of paper

thank you card.

And it had photos of Brie
saying, you know,

we know that this was a decision
that you were gonna receive

a lot of backlash for,
and we really appreciate you

standing up for human dignity,
human rights.

And I will tell you, that was
an emotional moment for me.

And he hugged me.

He was crying, I was crying.

He hugged me.

And it was
the most amazing moment.

Clearly I knew that it was gonna
be a difficult day,

and it meant a lot to have
someone that would come up

and make the decision
that I made very real.

You do have the right
to question someone

who is not where they belong
and you do have the right

to call the police
and you do have the right

to have that person removed.

Again, for a decade now
people have. .

people. . transgender individuals
have been living among us,

working among us,
and doing exactly what this. .

what this rule
says they can do,

and they've been doing it
for years

and they've been doing it
in 17 states and 200 cities.

But at the end of the day,

I was put before me a bill
that I believed was about

the fundamental human right
of an individual

and I support
those fundamental rights.

A teenage girl should not be
seeing a grown man naked

-in a locker room.
-That's right.

You want to talk about rights,
those are rights.

My right to throw a punch
ends at your nose

and their rights
for not being discomforted?

Ends when a little girl
sees a grown man naked

in a locker room.

We are losing a battle
for understanding

when we don't talk
to one another.

The people that don't support
these rights

for transgender individuals
are not bad people.

They don't have the experience,
they don't have the people

in their lives
that they can relate to,

and we shouldn't in any way. .
understand. .

I mean, probably many families
who have transgender children

came from that perspective
until they started

to face that themselves.

So it's completely
understandable

and they should
be met with love,

because that's where we actually
find the common ground.

This was my youngest daughter
before my husband and I

understood
that she was a girl.

She was a very bright
baby and toddler,

but we could feel that
something wasn't right.

She seemed very frustrated
with us,

frustrated with life.

By the time she was three
she was insisting,

oftentimes through
horrible tantrums,

that we allow her
to wear dresses.

By the time she was four,
she began to tell us

she was really
a girl inside.

She was crying herself to sleep
nearly every night.

One day when I was driving her
to preschool,

she asked me
how she was born.

I explained to her that,
like all other babies,

she grew in my belly
and then she came out.

She then told me that she wanted
me to put her back in my belly.

She told me that she wanted me
to undo her birth,

that she didn't want
to be born anymore.

Then she said,
"It's not fair, Mom.

You were born a girl
with a girl's body.

My sister was born a girl
with a girl's body.

Why was I born this way?"

That was the moment
I knew things needed to change.

From that day on,
her dad and I

would help her live her life
as her true self.

♪ Here I stand
in the light of day ♪♪

After that day, our youngest
daughter came alive.

She began to experience joy.

♪ This is what you came for,
lightning. . ♪

And she never,
ever told me again

that she didn't
want to be born.

♪ And everybody's
watching her

but she's looking at you,
ooh, ooh ♪

♪ You, ooh, ooh ♪♪

Oh, my God, I love this park.

-I wanna get one.
-Those are pretty.

The defeat of SB 6443
was a huge relief

for transgender Washingtonians,
their families, and friends.

But after this victory,
an even bigger threat emerged.

My name is Joseph Backholm,
I'm with the Family. .

Joseph Backholm
was the head

of the Family Policy Institute
of Washington,

an organization with a history
of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

and attacks against the rights
of gay parents and couples.

His organization
led the fight in Washington

against domestic partnerships
in 2009

and then against same-sex
marriage in 2012.

In his writings,
he made his views

of transgender people clear.

He referred to transgender
people's gender identity

as a fiction, a fantasy,
and a mental illness.

He fought vociferously
against schools

accepting and affirming
transgender children's

gender identities.

In February,
his organization

announced the formation
of Just Want Privacy,

a campaign that would launch
a ballot initiative

proposing a law similar
to other bathroom bills.

If the ballot initiative
was successful,

instead of our senators
voting on the issue

it would be voted on by
the people of Washington state

in our 2016 November election.

Joseph Backholm
was the chairman

of the Just Want Privacy
campaign.

You know, I'm just. . like,
I really am starting

to grapple with some real
anxiety around real harm.

For me, that's the scariest part
is, you know, like,

I just, you know, "Ellie just
run in the bathroom real quick,"

and then all of a sudden
she's in a space

where she can't protect herself
and she's harmed.

But I also feel like
we can't live in fear.

I mean. .

We feel like we need
to do something

in order to counteract
this initiative

that's being planned.

And so we've been getting
together and kind of

brainstorming ideas
to how we can do this.

And the, you know,
main one is to get out there

and actually
share our stories.

We have to be more public,
we have to do some, you know,

some writing,
maybe, you know,

do some blogs
or newspaper editorials

or, you know, just interviews,
stuff like that,

and just trying to get
as many people as we can

to help us in doing that,

and realizing that our kids
are just kids.

Yeah, my big fear is, again,
like you said,

I mean, and, you know,
they're gonna start

being at the grocery store
with their,

"Do you have
a moment to sign?"

And this big,
"Do you have a moment to sign

to protect the little kids?"

You know, I mean,
that's gonna be painful.

That first senate hearing
was scary how. .

-what a minority we were.
-It was, it was really bad.

And that no one was. . I feel like
no one was pointing out. .

I mean, and Aidan was, but,
you know, in very limited time,

pointing out like this argument
you're posing is ridicu. .

it makes no sense.

When I hear, like,
you know,

you're affecting the. .
you know,

our point of view is your,
you know,

it's gonna put
our children at risk.

And coming from that place,

I just. . I guess what I hear
or what I worry about is the,

"Well, your child's
the minority

and there's not very many
of them. "

I think this whole,
"You're such a small minority,

why, you know, should we make
this change for you," thing,

I still think it comes from

the fundamental lack
of knowledge and information.

It still comes from people
not really understanding

that these girls
are the other girls too,

that these boys
are the other boys too.

That it's not a minority

if you think about it
as just gender, right?

So, if you say all girls
should be safe,

all girls should have access
to privacy,

that includes
these girls, right?

And I think that whole mindset
still comes from

lack of education about what
it means to be transgender.

So I'm wondering if, like,
can you ever get through

to people unless
you actually educate them

in that core way, right?

First get the message across
that these girls are girls,

these boys are boys.

They're not
making a choice,

they're not trying
to be difficult, right,

they're not trying
to inconvenience people

just 'cause they feel like
doing this, that, or the other.

How do we educate people
on that basic fact first?

Well, no matter what
anyone says,

"Oh, I have nothing against
transgender people,

I'm just worried
about the person

that's gonna throw a dress on
and walk into the locker room

or the bathroom
or whatever. "

No matter what. . how many times
they say that,

it has nothing
to do with that.

It has absolutely everything
to do with being transgender

and that that is sick and wrong.

And you're sick and wrong
for doing that to your child.

They're not being honest
about their message.

No.

No, but they're being smart
about it.

Mm-hm.

So, how. . how do we take care
of each other through this?

There is. . I'm gonna go. .

I'm gonna go this way.

You go with Brie.

Okay.

He's on the stairs.

He's on the stairs!

Washington
is an initiative state.

We have a lot
of ballot measures

on the general election ballots
most years,

and that's because
our state constitution

guarantees the right of
the people to seek to make laws

through the initiative process.

The ballot initiative sponsored
by Just Want Privacy

would do two things.

One, it would allow
public facilities,

including schools,
to bar transgender people

from bathrooms
and locker rooms

that align with
their gender identity.

And two, it would allow students
to sue a school

for $2500 each time
they encountered

a transgender student
using a bathroom

or locker room based on
their gender identity.

The problem with
the initiative process

is that people try to play games
with it,

and that's exactly
what happened in this case.

Just Want Privacy
filed six initiatives,

five of them
were identically worded.

They admitted
that they filed

five identically-worded
initiatives

in the hopes that
five different attorneys

at the attorney general's office

would give it
different ballot titles

and they could choose the
language they liked the best.

And thankfully, in this case,
it did not work.

The attorney general
reviewed the language

and I am assuming recognized
that these all do the same thing

and they gave each of
the first five initiatives

the same ballot title.

Just Want Privacy
was very unhappy

with the attorney general's
ballot title

and filed a challenge.

They were trying to argue
that the ballot title

should not reflect the impact
of the initiative.

On the first hearing,
Judge Ann Hirsch

determined the ballot title
for the first five initiatives,

which were numbered
I-1504 to I-1508.

They were trying to keep out
anything in the initiative

that said it would
repeal protections

or override protections
or that it would result

in student lawsuits
against schools.

But typically, we're talking
about very small nuances

in ballot titles.

We're talking about state taxes
or just taxes

or, you know,
very tiny changes.

Never have I seen language
that talks about, you know,

repeal protections
against discrimination.

And that is pretty heavy
rhetorical language.

Well, it is repealing
regulations, is it not?

It is taking away
the regulation that. .

Instead,
they wanted to suggest

that the initiative's
ballot title

should focus on claiming
that this initiative

would restore or allow
facilities in Washington

to maintain
gender-specific facilities

like bathrooms.

That would be misleading
because Washington law

always has and continues
to allow facilities

to have men's rooms
and women's rooms.

Nothing has changed
in that regard.

Yes, the problem is
we're repealing protections

against gender identity
discrimination.

And as soon as you say,
"We are getting rid

of protections
against discrimination,"

that is. . tends to cause bias
in the reader.

But that's what it does.

Well, the voters
are going to decide,

essentially, whether that's
discrimination or not.

Well, the initiative,
if passed,

would repeal
the current protections.

Judge Hirsch rejected
all of the arguments

offered by Just Want Privacy.

The sponsor is also concerned
that the language

proposed by the state
is loaded language,

highly prejudicial
according to the sponsor,

and the language specifically
being the term

"gender-segregated. "

It's my view
that it's not prejudicial,

it's a statement of fact,

it encompasses the language
that's currently used,

and I don't believe it has,
necessarily,

the connotation that
the sponsors are asserting.

After the judge concluded their
hearing on the first measure,

I was sitting next
to Joseph Backholm

and he turned to me,
shook my hand,

and said, "See you next week. "

And so we knew at that point
they would be trying

to get a different ballot title
for I-1515.

The solicitor general
and PFLAG's arguments

are all about this initiative
would undo,

would repeal, would override,
would take away.

And our proposed title
says this initiative

would allow the following.

The court is prepared to issue
its ruling at this time

regarding the challenge to the
ballot title of Initiative 1515.

The court is not making
any changes to the language

proposed by
the solicitor general.

Ew!

It's ridiculous to assume that
everybody has the same body

or similar body parts.

So, you know, women that
have had mastectomies

or men that have had
testicular cancer

and had to have
some things removed,

what is the criteria?

What do you need to have
to enter into

a men's or a women's bathroom?

It's not gonna fit for everyone.

So all you can do is ask
somebody what their gender is.

That actually seems like
the right thing to do

is just let somebody
use the bathroom

that they identify with.

Because there's no way to tell
anyway based on body parts.

People sometimes question
whether. .

why focus on such a small area
as bathrooms?

Why not just. . I don't know
what they. .

what they think
the solution might be.

I know that in schools
it's like,

"Oh, have that transgender kid
just use the nurse's bathroom,

the staff bathroom. "

But, in some respects, it
represents the absolute ability

to be an authentic person
in the world,

to exist. . to exist,
I mean, really simply.

If someone says, "You can't
use the men's bathroom

or you can't use
the women's bathroom

because you're not woman enough
or you're not man enough,"

what they're ultimately saying
is you're not human enough.

And whether they realize that
or not,

that's the impact.

And I have known adults all
the way down to little children

who stop using the bathroom
because of this pushback.

The impact is really difficult
to describe

to someone
who doesn't experience it,

but we. . we need to. .
we need to relieve ourselves.

It's. . it's almost akin
to saying,

"You don't have a right
to breathe in this space.

You don't have a right to speak
in this other space. "

Where you rest your head
at night.

Harkening back to the separate
but equal argument, too,

when you look at that argument
of 50 years ago,

which virtually every American
finds it outrageous now,

it's the same arguments
being used now

against transgender people.

It is the very same arguments
that there are. .

there's danger to others

if you. . if you let. .
allow transgender people

to use locker rooms,

that they are somehow
so different

and will pervert
our whole society.

Those arguments were used
50, 60 years ago

around separate but equal
schools and bathrooms

and drinking fountains.

And it's only when we start
to see those arguments

being repeated again
and again and again

that we realize that these
aren't actually valid arguments,

they're actually part of
a whole discriminatory history

that is attempting
to be engaged again

against transgender people.

I think it's really important
that we hear more

and that people are active
and engaged

and grow the coalition
of people

who believe in
a tolerant Washington,

who believe in
an inclusive Washington,

and who are willing
to set the record straight

on some of these
misleading statements.

And that's gonna mean
cisgender allies,

it's gonna mean other allies
from the LGBT community,

it's gonna mean
many of us

from the disability community
or communities of color

who've experienced
discrimination ourselves

stepping up and being a part
of that coalition.

The Washington
Won't Discriminate campaign

launched in April.

It consisted of a coalition
of more than 500 businesses,

labor unions,
faith organizations,

and safety groups.

Its goal was to inform
the public about the dangers

of repealing Washington's
anti-discrimination law

and to urge people
to decline to sign

the I-1515
ballot measure petition.

The Washington that I love
and call home

is a place where all hardworking
people are treated

with dignity and respect,
and have a fair opportunity

to provide
for their families

and take responsibility
for their lives.

I have to tell you,
as a Christian,

I believe in loving
our neighbors as ourselves.

You know, that we treat
other people

the way we want to be treated.

As the father of five and
grandfather of five children,

and being a retired
state trooper

and former county sheriff,

nothing is more important
to me

than keeping my family
and our community safe.

It's important to remember
that indecent exposure,

voyeurism, and sexual assault
are already illegal

and that police officers
use existing laws

to keep us safe
and hold offenders accountable.

The facts show that we can
protect our communities

and work to prevent crime
while also protecting

our law-abiding individuals
from discrimination

in public places,
including the bathroom.

I've devoted my career
to preventing sexual violence

in our community,
and I take that very seriously.

Every time we hear
of someone who speaks

of their assault or abuse,
we feel their pain.

The safety fears
that many of us have,

especially those
who are survivors,

are not baseless or irrational,
nor should they be dismissed.

However, discriminating
against transgender people

does nothing to decrease
the risk of sexual assault.

What are some of the best ways
to talk about I-1515

and what it does?

As for our small group
of families,

we began the process of going
public with our stories.

We attended media trainings,

we told our stories
to local TV news crews. .

Ryan Takeo introduces us
to a local family

trying to navigate through
some pretty tough obstacles.

We assumed at the time that
he was a girl and Esther.

to local magazines. .

How do you know you're doing
the right thing?

- . and radio stations.
-'Cause I see my child living.

We spoke in churches.

So in September 2015,
when Brody was four and a half,

as I tucked him into bed,
he said to me,

"Mommy, why did God make me
a boy when I am really a girl?"

All I could say was,
"Shoot, where's my husband?"

We were asked
to share our story,

the story of a well-supported
transgender child.

Walking through the hallways
and sitting in the hearing room

knowing that a vast majority
of the people in the room

were likely to discount
what I had to say

before the words even
left my mouth,

I kept reminding myself
that my little girl

deserves basic human rights
and protections.

And anything else is
plainly discrimination.

So I very consciously stayed
grounded in a place of love.

I was very proud
to have my words be heard

at such a pivotal point
in our state's history.

We are on the right side
of history.

Excuse me.

Not surprisingly,
most of the reactions

to our stories in the media

were filled with misconceptions
and vicious attacks.

So scary, so frightening,
you know, to be judged for that

after we did the PBS special.

People are making comments
about, you know, that mom

should be locked away and. .

And I don't mind that,
I worry more for Skyler,

and so I had gone to Aidan
and said, you know,

"Are we doing the right thing?

I feel so powerfully that people
need to see stories like this,

to see, to hopefully be taught. "

And he said, "What a powerful
gift that is to give your child

to teach them that they should
be proud of who they are

and that they can make
a difference. "

Meanwhile, the Just Want Privacy
campaign was hitting the streets

with their
signature-gathering effort

and were reporting to have
gathered 50,000 signatures

within the first two weeks.

Their leader, Joseph Backholm,

was busy on the local press
circuit arguing their case.

Should you be allowed
to use a restroom

based on the sex
you were born with

or your gender identity?

He is the Chair of
the Just Want Privacy group,

which supports I-1515,
good to see you.

It would not be
appropriate for me to go

into the girls' locker room
at 24 Hour Fitness after work.

However, if I express
or identify as female,

the owner of 24 Hour Fitness

could face legal
liability from me

if they sought to intervene
and prevent me from going there,

and that's the big
giant loophole

problem that this creates.

Washington State
has over 200,000

registered sex offenders,
and that pathology

has them always
looking for victims.

And what this rule did
is it creates a welcome mat

where people now know they have
a legal right to be present

in a girls' locker room
and do things like just watch

and expose themselves
that on the sidewalk

would be criminal activity.

The problem with that argument

was that Washington State law
did not allow such a scenario

and it had already
been clarified

that businesses
could not be held liable

if they prevented a person
from entering a locker room

under false pretenses.

Yeah, I think there
are lots of aspects

of this argument that fail.

First and foremost is that
that kind of behavior

of a man going
into a women's restroom

is already prohibited
by the law.

The conservatives look at it
as taking or allowing men

to dress up as women
to sort of exploit that,

but in reality,
when you think about it,

by forcing trans people
to use the restroom

consistent with their sex
assigned at birth

actually creates a greater risk
in the sense that trans men

will be using women's restrooms,

so women will become
used to the idea

of seeing men in the restroom.

And so, in fact,
if a man wanted to do this,

they would just go
into the restroom as is,

and I think we need to really
take a step back

and talk about let's make sure
that all restrooms are safe,

right, for not only women
but also boys as well.

When you look at statistics
around sexual assault,

in fact, happens more often

between people
who know each other

and typically there's
an age difference as well.

So this fear doesn't
actually pan out.

The idea that
the federal government

would stop educating children

unless we force
high school girls

to shower in the presence
of high school boys

is something that
I think is offensive.

What we don't do is
change the curriculum

for the entire school
to address the needs

of one particular child.

What do you think
your life would be like

if you weren't allowed
to use the bathroom

with the rest of the girls
at school?

It wouldn't. . it wouldn't
be good for me.

'Cause people who don't know
what transgender is

and don't know why. .
that I'm transgender

'cause they don't know
what transgender is

when I'm going inside
the bathroom with a dress,

they'll say, "Why is a girl

going inside
the boys' bathroom?"

and they'll probably laugh.

Although I-1515 threatened
to derail their efforts,

Aidan, Scott, and Justin
forged ahead leading discussions

and workshops to develop
the trans-inclusive policy

for the Snohomish
School District.

This space tonight is about
sharing what you think

and asking questions,
because it's that conversation

that helps us to really be clear
about what's important to us.

I have yet to meet
a transgender kid

who had a lot of body confidence
in that way

that they might just disrobe
and walk around.

I mean, how many high school
kids do, anyway?

I suppose there's some.

But the transgender kids
are not those kids.

Sometimes they opt out
of PE altogether

or that kind of thing.

Hi, everyone, I'm Sarah,

and I am the mother
of two children.

One is in sixth grade
and her name is Ve',

and I have a fifth grade son,
his name is Val.

And Ve' is my daughter,
she's trans,

and my son is cisgender.

We're just a regular family in
the Snohomish School District.

I want the same thing
for my kids

that everybody else wants.

I want my kids to be happy,
included, safe.

I want them to have
the opportunity

to have a good education.

What are we doing to make sure
that everybody is safe

and that if there is an issue
with somebody who wants to. .

who understands they are female
but they have male anatomy

needs to take a shower
during sports

or wants to play
on the boys' side

or wants to play
on the girls' side,

what is the school
and the district doing

with funding and processes
to either protect those students

and the other students?

We can all agree that
whether you're a parent

of a transgender student
or a transgender student

or a cisgender student,

they don't wanna get naked
in front of each other.

So how can we go back
and create spaces

for people to have that privacy?

So that's what we're doing
as a district right now.

It goes back to what does
privacy look like for every kid?

How do we respect
what kids need at all levels?

The most persistent, maybe
sometimes the only question

is, doesn't your policy,
doesn't this law or whatever,

allow that a teenage boy
gets to walk into school today

and say, "Hey,
I'm a girl today,"

and march into
the girls' locker room

or the girls' bathroom
or wherever

and there's nothing
that can be done about it?

And we've answered it
because everybody asks,

and we keep coming back
to the same answer.

The thing that we've said
every single time is, "No. "

If a boy comes up and says,
"I'm a girl today

and I wanna go
in the locker room,"

we're gonna say, "Wait a minute.

If you really think
you're a girl,

we're gonna take the time
and we're gonna talk with you,

we're gonna sit down
with a counselor, administrator,

parents, whomever,
have a conversation

about what that means to you.

How do we support you
in that process?

What is it you really want here?

If that student ultimately
gets access to the locker room,

it may be weeks down the road.

We don't. . I don't know,
but there will be a time

to have a conversation
that's very deliberative

about what it all means.

It's as if, in education,
we've never dealt with students

trying to pull a stunt before.

As if we can't
authentically sort out. .

Sort through that, exactly.

Who saw me in the shower?

It was a man not a woman.

It was a man, and guess what?

Those same men
that you're trying to avoid

can now follow you
into the bathroom

and be legally protected.

Absolutely can.

In June, Just Want Privacy
hosted a public event

and press conference

at the University of Washington
in Tacoma.

Its description promised
a conversation

with progressive female leaders
of national influence

who would talk about
safe spaces for women

particularly in showers
and bathrooms.

To compare trans women
to sexual assault?

That is bullshit!

-Shame on you!
-Shame!

Shame!

In order to go forward here,
in order to go forward. .

Enjoy your hate rally!

-Trans women are women!
-Trans women are women!

It's discriminatory
when trans women

think that their rights
supersede everybody else's.

What I'm hearing
from trans allies and advocates

is that the safety
of trans people is paramount

to the safety of everybody else.

That's discriminatory.

It's discriminatory.

There are bathroom bills
circulating

-all across the country.
-And they're terrible.

-And they vary.
-And they're all wrong!

And the question is how do we. .

I'm not saying
that they're right.

Answer his question!

-I have said that their. .
-What incident. .

What do you mean
"what incident"?

What incident
are you talking about?

Where a trans person violated
a woman in a bathroom!

-What incidents. .
-None! Zero!

Let me just say. . I'm not gonna
argue with you about statistics.

Well, you are arguing because
you're making false claims!

-That's an argument!
-Not at all.

What I'm saying is
that there's violence. .

Your arguments are all based
on false premises.

There has to be safe spaces
for everyone.

That means. . that means
that a high school girl

can go into the shower
and not be afraid or worried

or surprised by a male body
coming in and watching her.

So, what I'm gonna. .
I'm gonna keep speaking here.

And that right there is
the final rub, isn't it?

The final argument
for discrimination

against transgender people.

Transgender women, really,
if we wanna be honest about it.

The argument that transgender
people are insane

won't hold up in the long run
because they're just as sane

as the rest
of the human population.

The argument that they're
dangerous won't hold up either

because they're
no more dangerous

than the rest
of the human population.

The argument that
predatory crimes will rise

when trans people
use public facilities

according to their gender
identity won't hold up

because there's no evidence
that this is actually the case.

Therefore, we're left
with the argument

that trans children and adults

should be segregated
from their peers

because someone may be afraid

or worried or surprised
by their presence.

But is this a fair criterion
by which we grant

or take away civil rights
in our society?

Are we a society that punishes
innocent people,

isolates them,
and exposes them to real harm

all because
their physical appearance

may make someone uncomfortable?

I feel like the basic argument
being put forth

is that because you have
a certain body type,

you as a transgender person,
you as a transgender child,

you have a certain body type

that doesn't fit with
how I order the world,

that, yeah, we really wanna
restrict your civil rights.

That's a strange argument.

We have. . we have many situations

in which people's bodies
are different.

There are people
with weight differences,

there are people
who have lost a limb,

someone in a wheelchair,
a quadriplegic.

It's an incredible thing to say,
"You, who you are

and how your body is,
which you have no control over,

is. . makes me uncomfortable,

so please get this
out of my sight. "

We've done that in the past
for other reasons

and we have since discovered

that that's not
a very good reason.

You know, this last year,

we celebrated
the 25th anniversary

of the Americans
with Disabilities Act,

and when the ADA was passed,
there were a number

of measures in it that made
people really uncomfortable,

and there are a lot of things
about people with disabilities

that can make
the general population

uncomfortable from time to time.

At the end of the day,

I don't think there's a single
legislator in Washington State,

Democrat or Republican,
who would turn back

the hands of time
and undo the ADA.

And the reason for that is that
while there is a civil right

to be included in this society,
there's not a civil right

to being comfortable
all of the time,

and I think it's important
to understand that,

and I don't mean to invalidate
the feelings or fears

of individuals who are
just now learning about

what it means to be transgender.

I understand that
and I understand that,

for many of them, this may
all be happening very quickly,

but what's important to know
is that, in this country,

when we've gotten it right,
which we eventually do,

we've done so by telling people,
"You know what,

this may make you a little
uncomfortable at first.

It may make you
a little uncomfortable

to have someone
of a different race

going to school with your child.

It may make you
a little uncomfortable

to have women in the same types

of positions and jobs
that you have,

and it may make you
uncomfortable

to have someone who's blind
bring their service animal

onto the airplane
or into a restaurant with them,

but at the end of the day,

you'll learn to become
comfortable as we all will,

but what we need to put
first and foremost

is the right of every individual
to enjoy life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness
as was promised

at the very founding
of this country.

Just Want Privacy was reportedly

making progress
gathering signatures.

The last reported count

was nearly
150,000 signatures gathered.

It was late June and our family

was at a local
strawberry festival.

It was a gorgeous day.

It's not going as slow
as you expected it to go.

My husband spotted them first.

He gave me a kiss goodbye
and quickly took the kids

back to the car
to take them home.

Watching all
those everyday people

signing away my daughter's
basic civil and human rights

made it very difficult for me
not to feel real anger,

hatred even, towards them.

for a small percentage of people. .

Yeah, they're people
just like you.

They're people just like
you're an immigrant,

they're people that shouldn't be
discriminated against.

You as an immigrant don't wanna
be discriminated against.

It's really easy to form
an opinion about something

when it's not in your family,

and it's hard to not get enraged
at that short-sightedness,

but here's what I think:

The majority of those people,

I believe this firmly,
are good people.

That they have good hearts,

they have children
that they love.

This issue hasn't touched
their family.

If it were to touch
their family,

they would be in
a significant amount of turmoil.

If I view those people

as something other
than good people,

it will eat me up.

It will. . it will blacken
my soul and my heart,

and I don't want that.

I don't wanna be
that kind of person,

I don't wanna live that way.

At the final Snohomish
School District board meeting,

the board was going to vote
on whether or not to adopt

the trans-inclusive policy,
knowing full well

that if the ballot
initiative passed,

their district policy
would be in direct conflict

with Washington State law.

So we're here tonight
to give you kind of an update,

a summary of where we are

concerning the transgender
policy 3213

that you're gonna be
considering tonight.

Gender identity laws are a trend

that is steamrolling
people like me.

With this trend, should I tell
my 16-year-old daughter

to expect unclothed boys

in her school sports locker
and bathrooms?

This is endangerment.

And common sense reminds us
that laws allowing people

to use the bathroom of choice

also flash a green light
to sexual predators.

Transgender students
and really all students,

they want nothing more than
to fit in to the daily routine

of being seen, valued,
respected, and treated

as the learning, growing
human beings that they are.

I'm not trying to harm anybody
in any way,

I'm not trying
to be pervertive

or harass people in any way.

A transsexual's very presence
as an anatomical opposite

constitutes an assault
in and of itself.

This is an issue that is similar
to other fights

for equality and respect,
equity and justice.

Black people were kept
in separate facilities

and restrooms and dining areas
for safety concerns.

Now I think most people
would see the ignorance in that.

This is no different.

When we attempt to conform
reality to our delusions,

then confusion is
the only sure result.

Since children are
not fully developed

emotionally or intellectually,
and educators should know this,

they cannot choose
to identify themselves

as anything other
than their birth gender.

Any fantasy or virtual pretense
of the child

has no basis in reality

and results in confusion
for the child

and wasted resources for
the school district and parents.

I don't want a parent to have
the experience that I had

of being woken up
in the middle of the night

because my child had
attempted suicide.

I don't want any parent

to be awoken in the middle
of the night

because their child
had attempted suicide

simply because they didn't feel
the opportunity

to live their true selves
in their community.

Okay, is there a motion
for the approval of policy 3213?

-(unintelligible)
-Seconded.

It's been moved in second,

Is there any discussion?

All those in favor,
signify by saying "Aye. "

-Aye.
-Aye.

All opposed, same sign,
motion passes.

You guys are excused
if you wanna leave.

The vote in favor of adopting

the transgender-inclusive policy
was unanimous.

At the heart of the policy
was the promise

that transgender students
would be able to use bathrooms

and locker rooms that aligned
with their gender identity

just like all students.

And they would not be
forcibly segregated

from their peers when doing so.

The I-1515 signature deadline

was now only
a couple of weeks away.

As this deadline
was fast approaching,

I thought about the friends
we had made over the past year,

friends who had become
part of our extended family.

We were hearing reports
that Just Want Privacy

was getting close to
their signature-gathering goal.

We had fought as hard
as we could

and, at this point,
all we could do was wait.

I had my fears,
I was really scared.

Like, at home,
Ve' would wanna wear a tutu

as soon as we got home, I mean,

it had to be for like
a year straight,

Ve' wanted to put this tutu on.

You should've seen this tutu
by the end of the year.

Because, I mean, even if
I tried to hide it

because I was just
sick of her wearing it,

she would hunt that thing down
and put it on.

The first time that
I made a point of saying,

"Oh, you're such a great son,"

or "Luke's so lucky to have you
as a big brother,"

and the joy that lit his face,

I mean, it was just like nothing
I've ever seen.

I mean, you could just see
shoulders straighten

and this smile,
and not just a smile,

but a smile that was just lit
from within.

Taking her shopping for
the first time for girl clothes,

oh, my gosh, like it was just. .

she was so alive.

There was nothing else
I was gonna do.

I was gonna support my child
100 percent.

He's finally himself
and there's just. .

it's a light
and it's hard to explain,

but it's just this light
that's coming from him.

And he's even told me recently,

"Mom, I'm so glad to be alive. "

He would never have
said that a year ago.

He used to say to me,
"Mom, life's too hard.

I don't wanna be here anymore,"
and he's said to me,

he's looked outside
and been like,

"Mom, the world is so awesome,
I'm so happy to be alive. "

That's worth everything.

this one and it's a little
bit smaller than this part.

Yeesh

If I did this one
bigger than this. .

And as we all braced ourselves
for finding out

whether or not
our children's civil rights

would be put up for a vote,

I realized something important.

I realized that this struggle
we were all a part of,

this so-called "culture war,"

we had already won it
before it even began.

We won the moment
we made the decision

to accept our children
for exactly who they were.

Because that was the moment
we began to fulfill

our most important job
as parents,

the job of empowering
our children

with the ability
to love themselves.

For that kind of love

will always overcome
ignorance, fear, hate.

That kind of love
beats everything.

Backers of
the ballot initiative

to restrict which bathrooms
transgender people can use

have told
Washington State officials

they will not be turning in
signatures by today's deadline.