The Milwaukee Post

September 18, 2015 • Milwaukee County Post • 11 Iran deal means peace, not war To the editor: Despite numerous attempts by both House and Senate Republicans to derail the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it is clear that the historic nuclear agree- ment with Iran will move forward with U.S. support. Because of this landmark deal, we now have the capacity to signifi- cantly reduce Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium and block them from producing weapons-grade plutonium. More impor- tantly, this agreement prevents Iran from acquiring the material needed to develop a nuclear bomb within the next three months. Thanks to this comprehensive agree- ment and President Obama's leadership, we are choosing peace over military inter- vention. I commend my Democratic con- gressional colleagues for considering this deal on the merits, especially in the face of baseless speculation, fearmongering, and scare tactics from those who sought to scuttle this important diplomatic achieve- ment. Now begins the hard work of imple- menting the deal and ensuring Iran's com- pliance with its rigorous requirements. I take pride in knowing that the U.S. will now be able to join our global partners at the table in this key phase to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore Fourth Congressional District Milwaukee Obama does have 'fire in his belly' when it comes to defending officers To the editor: In her Sept. 4 column, Jessica McBride made the statement that President Barack Obama "doesn't seem like he has a passion or fire in his belly when it comes to defending law enforcement officers." Hmm, he has made many forceful state- ments about that but if you get your news from Fox, I'm sure you can get that false feeling. Fox has never mentioned them that I could find but I found plenty at the Washington Post, CNN, the NY Times, all of whom covered this. ("President Obama: Violence against police 'is completely unacceptable'" in the Washington Post on Sept. 1 and "Obama targeting police com- pletely unacceptable" on Aug. 31). I don't expect a retraction, but if unchallenged, it might slant someone's point of view. Michael Loew Milwaukee Be vigilant in protecting small animals from coyotes To the editor: First, I want to say to the woman in Wauwatosa who lost her little dog how sorry we are for her loss. The loss was from an attack by a coyote and the woman was also hurt in the attack trying to protect her dog. As more sightings of coyotes are report- ed in many areas, we as pet owners are defenseless against them as the law reads we cannot shoot them. I urge all owners of smaller pets to never them outside alone, not even in a fenced-up yard as some wild animals can jump pretty high. Keep your eyes on your pet as an attack can happen at any time. I was told our pets are only property, but we who raise and love them see them as family members and it hurts like hell to lose them in such a vicious manner. Check with your local police department as to what your rights are to protect your pet, as well as yourself. Whether we raise them from the day they are born or adopt them from a shelter, they become part of us and our family. I never saw a piece of property show me the love or devotion my pets show me. Bonnie Meyer Cudahy LETTERS TO THE EDITOR By OWEN B. ROBINSON What do you do if you are a transgen- dered kid in Wisconsin attending a public school and you need to use the restroom or change in a locker room? In the world of binary bathrooms — male or female — which one do you go into? State Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, will begin circulating a bill in the next few weeks to try to answer these questions for Wisconsin's public schools. It's prompted by the different approaches that some school districts are taking with policies regarding transgendered people now. Whenever looking at an issue like this, it is worth trying to assess the scope of the problem. According to the Social Security Administration, 135,367 people have changed their name to that of another gen- der since it was formed in 1936. Of those, 30,006 have medically changed their sex accordingly. In another view, according to the 2010 census, 89,667 people currently living in America changed their names to another gender and 21,833 people medical- ly changed their sex to match. Given the population of the United States, the trans- gendered population is something like 0.03 percent of our commu- nity. There are more people with albinism in America than there are transgendered people. Needless to say, trans- gendered people are exceedingly rare. Still, part of the rule of law is that we protect individual liberties irrespective of whether a person is a member of a majority or minority. In this case, how- ever, there are not any individual liberties being threatened. But there are some indi- vidual and social sensibilities to consider. Not to be too graphic, but the reason that we segregate bathrooms and locker rooms by gender is that most people are uncom- fortable exposing their genitals or engag- ing in routine bodily functions in front of members of another gender. In fact, most kids are equally uncomfortable with exposing themselves in front of members of their own gender. But there is not a right to be comfortable at all times. In the case of a transgendered person, a boy who identifies as a girl might feel more comfortable in the girls' locker room. At the same time, the other girls in that locker room who also identify as girls may feel uncomfortable with someone who is anatomically indistinguishable from a boy sharing the locker room. Why is the transgender kid's comfort more important than those around him (or her, if you pre- fer)? All of this puts school districts into a quandary. They are tasked with creating and maintaining an environment where kids feel safe to learn. Short of individual unisex bathrooms and locker rooms, how should a school district respond to trans- gender kids who adamantly oppose shar- ing a bathroom or locker room with a member of their biological gender? And in our litigious culture, is there any decision that a school district can make that will ward off an expensive lawsuit? Probably not. That is exactly the problem Kremer wants to eliminate. By passing uniform state standards on the treatment of trans- gender kids, it takes the onus off of local school districts to create their own stan- dards and moves it to the state, where the Department of Justice would be tasked with the duty expense of defending the standards from lawsuits. Kremer's bill is quite simple. It says that a school must provide reasonable accom- modation for kids who identify as some- thing other than their biological gender. By doing so, it prohibits school districts from forcing transgender kids into an uncomfortable environment, but also does not force a school district to permit a boy who identifies as a girl to congregate in the girls' locker room. Kremer's bill is a good middle ground that meets the needs of accommodating a transgender kid while still protecting the sensibilities of non-transgender (gender?) kids. It is a virtual certainty that the trans- gendered community is going to pursue any perceived transgressions of their sen- sibilities through the court system. Kremer's bill would help save the taxpay- ers from having to litigate that battle in every district and, instead, allow the issue to be settled in a statewide venue. (Owen B. Robinson is a West Bend resi- dent whose column appears occasionally in The Milwaukee County Post. He can be reached at owen@bootsandsabers.com.) State representative to propose equal treatment for all transgendered schoolchildren Building a solid middle ground Robinson OPINION

• Cover