Sir Elton John has written a passionate essay criticising North Carolina’s Governor and the state’s controversial anti-LGBT Bathroom Bill.
Sir Elton is the latest celebrity to weigh in on House Bill 2, a law which Governor Pat McCrory signed in March (16) which forces transgender residents to use gender-specific restrooms.
On Tuesday, Elton wrote an essay for news site The Hill, in which he shared his thoughts on the matter, specifically taking aim at Governor McCrory for insisting he had never met a transgender person.
Despite the fact McCrory pedaled back on his statement, Elton noted the message the politician sent out was a dangerous one.
“It’s a message we hear far too often,” Elton wrote. “This brand of ignorance deliberately shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community. It’s dangerous, and it goes beyond bathrooms. As the father of two children, I would hope their world is free of discriminatory, hateful legislation like North Carolina’s.”
Elton, who has two young children with husband David Furnish, continued, “Forcing transgender people to use the bathroom of a gender with which they don’t identify isn’t just inconvenient or impractical. For many, especially young students still grappling with their transition, it can be traumatic, and at worst, unsafe.
“The failure of McCrory and other lawmakers to see this is a failure of compassion, a failure to recognize the difficult and frequently unwelcoming world transgender people must navigate every day, stigmatized by the fear and ignorance of others.”
Elton went on to note that his own organisation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, aims to support the very LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community the law alienates, and by contrast, the bill only serves to further encourage discrimination and further stigmatise the transgender community.
“McCrory and others who support these discriminatory bathroom bills need to reverse course, but moreover, they need a lesson in compassion. They need to recognize the existence of trans people, and they need to acknowledge that all people have a fundamental desire – and a fundamental right – to be treated fairly.”
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