Ask Me First Campaign Wants Trans People to First Get Permission to Use Public Restrooms

Campaign Backed by Faith-Based Anti-LGBT Groups

“We are moms, daughters, students, athletes, survivors and businesswomen who believe our voices matter.”

This is how the Ask Me First campaign introduces itself.

Ask Me First is an anti-transgender campaign asking politicians to ask women for permission before protecting trans people – whom they call “gender-confused” – who are attempting to use public facilities or participate in public events. The campaign features a few stories on their website from women upset about trans inclusive policies at various levels. They call equal rights “special accommodation.”

“As we all consider the policy changes we’re seeing concerning privacy and safety in restrooms and locker rooms, we think there are certain voices that are being ignored — perhaps on purpose,” Ask Me First accuses, ignoring the fact that transgender people’s voices have always been ignored.

The stories currently posted on the site include the story of Tanner, a high school girl who is upset that she had to compete against a trans student. The student complaining won the race, and the trans student is shown finishing somewhere around the middle. Tanner wasn’t asked if a trans girl could compete in the race, and uses the same argument often used about minorities: “there was obviously one girl in each of those races that did not get to compete” because a trans girl did.

The second video includes two mothers who are upset that their children had to read a children’s story called My Princess Boy, after a “gender confused” student attended their school.

My Princess Boy is an illustrated book written by Cheryl Kilodavis about her son, Dyson. Dyson is not trans, but he prefers traditionally female clothing. Kilodavis speaks at schools around the country about acceptance and inclusion, and she is a recipient of a Harvey Milk Diversity Award.

The third featured video is an extremely descriptive and dramatic narration of a woman who walked into a locker room at a pool and found a trans woman using the same locker room. After reporting this to the staff, she was “unprepared” for their response in defense of the other woman.

The campaign is backed by faith-based anti-LGBT groups, including the Family Policy Alliance, formerly Citizen Link, which is the public policy arm of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The FPA is also associated with Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

The campaign is asking women to share their stories of interactions with trans people. 

There’s even a hashtag the anti-LGBT groups are using on social media:

 

Image: Screenshot via YouTube
Hat Tip: The Column