Thursday, May 26, 2016

Rep. Lofgren Calls Out A Transphobe

For us to eventually win World War T, we will need to have the help of allies who abhor oppression as much as those of us who are experiencing it firsthand.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. called out a transphobic witness during the committee meeting.  That transphobe, Gail Heriot, unfortunately sits on the US Commission of Civil Rights and Rep. Lofgren took exception to her problematic testimony   .

This was the section of Ms. Heriot's testimony that Rep. Lofgren objected to and read aloud during the Judiciary Committee meeting.

"If I believe that I am a Russian princess, that doesn’t make me a Russian princess, even if my friends and acquaintances are willing to indulge my fantasy. Nor am I a Great Horned Owl just because — as I have been told — I happen to share some personality traits with those feathered creatures"
-Gail Heriot

Rep. Lofgren made it clear that she couldn't let that comment be entered into the record without being challenged and told committee chair Rep. Steve King (R-IA) that very point.

"I’ve got to say, I found this rather offensive," Lofgren announced after reading Heriot's transphobic statement. "It says to me that the witness really doesn’t know anything and probably has never met a transgender child who is going through, in almost every case, a very difficult experience finding themselves."

And here's the video of that exchange. with Heriot and Rep. King..

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