Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson stated that he has a concern about “big, hairy men” using transgender bathrooms, according to Politico.
What We Know:
- He called out the press, saying the remarks he made were mischaracterized. He admitted he stated those words, but disputed that it lacked context.
- Carson advised in a letter “…I made reference to the fact that I had heard from many women’s groups about the difficulty they were having with women’s shelters because sometimes men would claim to be women.” He talked about how one of these groups described that this situation makes the women in the facility very uncomfortable.
- Carson also called out how dangerous it is for society to override common sense in favor of progressivism. “Our society is in danger when we pick one issue (such as gender identity) and say it does not matter how it impacts others because this issue should override every other common-sense consideration.”
- In the past, Carson has supported the idea of creating transgender bathrooms but has also stated that changing your gender makes as much sense as changing your ethnicity.
- An LGBTQ interest group, The Human Rights Campaign, stated how Carson’s words express disgust over the existence of transgender people. Alphonso David, President of the HRC stated, “It is hardly surprising that Ben Carson would blatantly dehumanize trans people in his official capacity”.
Carson finished his statement by saying “transgender people should get the same rights as everyone else, but they don’t get to change things for everybody else.”, according to CNN.
