Johnson, Mace wants transgender bathroom ban. How on earth will they do it?

“I’m sorry mom, but you look like a bad person,” said the guard outside the restroom. “Would you like to stop here while I look for someone to examine your genitals?”

If you can imagine the situation and make sense of it, I care. If the idea of ​​a bathroom “anatomy checker” seems ridiculous and crazy, then you can see that such rules cannot be logically followed.

Making laws that we don’t follow is a bigger problem for America than looking at the toilet.

I made it very clear that gender identity, at its core, is a matter of freedom of expression. From a constitutional point of view, one man’s opinion that he is a woman should not be privileged over another man’s opinion.

I oppose laws that require the use of prepositions. No gender-affirming surgery for minors or transgender women participating in female sports should be allowed.

For someone with such a conservative view, it’s easy for me to go along with the so-called “bathroom ban” and call it a day.

But I find such laws incredibly strange.

Who really enforces Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s bathroom policy?

The issue rears its head again as the first openly transgender member of Congress, Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, takes the Delaware seat. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, introduced the bathroom ban resolution directly in response to McBride’s arrival.

Since Congressional legislation will not be adopted until the next Congress, Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, issued a statement regarding the use of single-sex facilities in the US Capitol complex: “All sexual facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings—such as restrooms, locker rooms, and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals with members of the sexes of that nation.”

That’s all well and good, but imagine how law enforcement plays out for McBride.

First, someone has to catch McBride breaking the law. There are bathrooms inside the United States Capitol Complex. Of all the security issues facing Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill Police officers stand on the task of conducting sexual inspections that seem unlikely. Mace and Johnson are very busy and so are their colleagues and staff. But for the sake of argument, let’s say McBride was caught on the way out of a female-only bathroom.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid this bathroom is for women only,” says the barber. McBride replies, “I’m a woman.” “What I’m trying to say is that it’s only reserved for ‘fertile women’,” answers the researcher. “It doesn’t say anything at the door,” replies McBride. were you looking at everyone or just waiting for me?”

So we are left with the choice of waiting “known transgender people” or looking at everyone who walks through the bathroom door.

Avoid creating rules to enforce certain opinions

Let’s deal with the first issue. Being transgender is not a crime. The idea of ​​putting anyone on the perfect bathroom permit registry is sounder than a payday at a peanut farm.

Nor will Congress make uniforms for women to use the restroom. I can’t figure out which women should show their private parts to the escort. Are we asking them to look at the size of the Adam’s apple? Maybe we screen all women above the average 5’4” height for American women? My wife is several over that threshold, and I can’t imagine anyone brave enough to stand between her and the bathroom when nature calls. Everyone enjoys special screening by the TSA at the airport…

This whole bathroom convention business is largely a reflection of women’s identity.

The correct answer to a speech that offends us is a lot of speech. We don’t have to make up rules to enforce our views. Conservatives who cannot stand up to hate speech laws, university speech codes, and other government-mandated speech should not be doing the same thing as creating laws and regulations they have no intention of enacting.

In defending the bathroom rules, Johnson also said, “Women deserve women-only spaces.” But what about men who suddenly find transgender women in their toilets? How do we know that women aren’t sneaking into our toilets for us to look at? Are we supposed to just accept that everyone—a woman—in our bathrooms and locker rooms was assigned as male at birth? And don’t tell me no woman would ever go into a men’s room, you sexist.

So I guess we’ll have to turn to the anatomy screen for the men’s bathroom again.

Have sexual arguments, but don’t exclude each other

Put the argument in the context of another story. Conservatives would lose their minds if Mr. Trump’s promise to enforce immigration law ended with the provision that people who are here without legal documents cannot live in America.

How come? Immigration laws can always be enforced. It’s not about the majority of the last administration, but the majority of Americans want to see such laws promoted and not ignored.

On the other hand, I can’t imagine anything close to the majority of Americans willing to expose their private parts to comply with gender norms in bathrooms and locker rooms. We have many criminal laws when any man who has committed a crime is in custody.

America needs a robust, open debate about gender, and we seem to be having that. Neither side of the debate should have the ability to shut down or shut down the other.

To McBride’s credit, a recent representative has dismissed the bathroom business as a nuisance. “I am not here to argue about the housing issue. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and lower the costs facing families,” McBride said on X. “Like all members, I will follow the instructions as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I don’t agree with them.”

We need fewer rules and regulations. We don’t have to create new ones until we’ve always followed what we have. Conservatives, especially, need to understand that. Congress should focus more on inflation, inflation, and preventing World War III than sitting in the store next to them.

USA TODAY Network Tennessee Columnist Cameron Smith was a Memphis-born, Brentwood-raised political lawyer who worked for conservative Republicans. He and his wife Justine are raising three boys in Nolensville, Tenn. Direct outrage or compromise to smith.david.cameron@gmail.com or @DCameronSmith on X, formerly known as Twitter. Agree or disagree? Send letters to the editor to letters@tennessean.com.

This article first appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Transgender bathroom ban: House must tighten it up | The view