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Creep of the Week: Paul Scott

You don't have to be a threat scientist to identify the biggest danger to America's national security, especially the Michigan part of America: transgender folks.
The question is, who is going to save us from the tranny menace?
Answer: Paul Scott, Michigan State Representative from Grand Blanc, that's who. Scott just announced his candidacy for Michigan's Secretary of State and one of his priorities is getting into your pants. Or at least making sure that the carpet matches the drapes – that is, if by carpet we mean the gender on your birth certificate and by drapes we mean the gender on your driver's license.

In a Jan. 15 letter announcing his candidacy for Secretary of State, Scott lists four specific policy goals, including the following: "I will make it a priority to ensure transgender individuals will not be allowed to change the sex on their driver's license in any circumstance."
Keep in mind that since 2005, transgender Michiganders have been able to change their gender on their driver's licenses, provided they have undergone gender reassignment surgery. Under Scott, not even that would be allowed.
And for Scott, this is apparently one of the top four problems facing Michigan today.
When asked by the Michigan Messenger what the hell his deal was, Scott replied, "It's a social values issue. If you are born a male, you should be known as a male. Same as with a female, she should be known as a female."
And if he or she has gender reassignment surgery? Tough shit. What part of "in any circumstance" don't you understand?
"That's who you are. You can have cosmetic surgery or reassignment surgery but you are still that gender," he told the Messenger. And forcing trans folks to have the incorrect gender on their licenses will prevent "people who are males genetically from dressing as a woman and going into female bathrooms."
This, of course, makes no sense and would prevent no such thing.
"I wonder how he would feel about a fully transitioned F2M, with a beard (like me) going into a women's bathroom? I wonder if that even occurred to him," mused Lenny Zenith of Ann Arbor.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say … no. No, that's never occurred to him. I have the feeling he doesn't know any actual transgender people and that any experience with the issue is probably contained deep within his Internet browser history.
What Scott's plan would do is make life more difficult for a minority population that already has it difficult enough. When a person's ID doesn't match their gender identity, it can cause a lot of problems. It's also a green light for discrimination. Transphobia is alive and well, as the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance attests. Transgender people have a hard enough time getting a job. And just imagine what kind of nightmare scenario getting pulled over for speeding could become.
But hey, I guess that's not a "social values issue," since that would mean treating transgender folks like human beings.
Scott ends his announcement letter by writing, "For too long Republicans have let the Democrats divide us based on age, race, gender or socio-economic status. Enough is enough."
Enough is enough, is it? Yes, Michigan Republicans have a great reputation as uniters. I think it's more apt to say, "We've only just begun."

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