Photo of young trans girl highlights hypocrisy of North Carolina’s transphobic ‘bathroom bill’
A photographer has shared a powerful image in order to send an important message about the new laws.
Photographer Meg Bitton decided to shared her image of a young transgender client named Corey Maison earlier this week, in response to the anti-LGBT laws in North Carolina.
In just a 24 hours, the powerful photo garnered more than 30,000 reactions and 18,000 shares.
The heavily criticised ‘bathroom bill’ restricts the rights of trans people to use a gender-appropriate bathroom, as well as prohibiting local authorities from passing bills to protect LGBT people.
In the post, Bitton calls out the North Carolina legislation, highlighting the hypocrisy of those who support it.
“If this was YOUR daughter, would you be comfortable sending her into a men’s bathroom?” she wrote in the photo’s caption.
“Neither would I. Be fair. Be kind. Be empathetic. Treat others how you would like to be treated.
“Corey Maison is transgender. She was born with male anatomy but identifies as a female,” she adds.
“Under the new laws, SHE would be forced to use the men’s room.
“Therefore, I would not be comfortable sending HER into the men’s room if she was my daughter.”
Bitton claims comments made by many Republican supporters of the bill are not only “wrong,” but also “extremely dangerous.
Her argument echoes that of Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz – however, the transphobic senator said the trans community is a threat to his daughters, before claiming the bill would stop them from being molested by trans people.
He doubled down on his anti-trans policies over the weekend, by cracking jokes about Donald Trump after Mr Trump came out in favour of trans rights.
Senator Cruz has also strongly backed other new anti-LGBT ‘religious freedom’ laws allowing religious people to discriminate against married gay couples and trans people.
His rhetoric parrots the most extreme anti-LGBT groups campaigning on the issue, with one ad depicting a man raping a little girl in a bathroom. Rape is illegal in all 50 states.
