Marcia Kelbon let us know she is a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist), sharing company with people like JK Rowling, who has been vocal about the exclusion of trans women from “true womanhood.” These are the kind of labels she anticipated in her column. My question is why the obsession in conservative politics with the business of people’s genitalia? From reproductive rights, to gender identity and the decision of when it is age appropriate to make bodily changes, from restroom and changing room access, to who is allowed to play in women’s high school sports, there is one theme to all of these concerns. How can you allay the fears of the public who want to protect women and children when you won’t even look clearly at who the true predators among us are? How is it that in this demand for privacy, chasteness and the protection of innocence, there are certain folks among us who won’t stop thinking about where people change their clothes or go to the bathroom? Let’s speak frankly, who are the real weirdos here, those who want to make sure everyone’s body parts match the bathroom sign, or those who mind their own business and respect people’s privacy? Who is more strange, someone who thinks school sports can be managed to accommodate gender identity and fairness to players or someone who thinks there need to be stringent rules like DNA tests or genital inspections to make sure everyone is toeing the binary gender line? The hyperfocus on body parts is infantile, but unfortunately it is right up at the front of our national politics. Surely it is a culture war distraction from the economic and policy wrecking ball the current majority party is taking to the United States and the world, but that would be a conversation for adults, and we’re back in pre-school.

Nigel O’Shea

Port Townsend