thread-index: AdGQbwy/6yxC3rEpQguVjTuiYXjZ3Q==
Thread-Topic: Transgender Restroom Bills
From: <governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com>
To: <governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com>
Subject: Transgender Restroom Bills
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 21:44:40 -0400
Message-ID: <22F43B4F188843A68F991A5C0515CC39@IQ12>
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<APP>CUSTOM
<PREFIX>Ms</PREFIX>
<FIRST>Rebecca</FIRST>
<MIDDLE>L</MIDDLE>
<LAST>Putman</LAST>
<SUFFIX></SUFFIX>
<TITLE></TITLE>
<ORGANIZATION></ORGANIZATION>
<ADDR1>1162 Glenarden Drive</ADDR1>
<ADDR2></ADDR2>
<CITY>Rock Hill</CITY>
<STATE>SC</STATE>
<ZIP>29730</ZIP>
<EMAIL>sappha58@comporium.net</EMAIL>
<PHONE_H>803-370-5346</PHONE_H>
<PHONE_B></PHONE_B>
<ISSUE>ETHI</ISSUE>
<SUBJECT>Transgender Restroom Bills</SUBJECT>
<CUSTOM1>67.197.102.196</CUSTOM1>
<MSG>
Dear Governor Haley,

I am writing today in opposition to the new bill introduced in the Senate by Senator Lee Bright regarding transgender people using the restrooms of their gender expression.

I am a transgender woman.  I am NOT a monster.  I am NOT evil.  I am NOT perverted.  I am NOT a predator on other women.  Most importantly, I am NOT a man.

Let me explain that transgender people do not transition for prurient reasons.  We do it because we are uncomfortable in the extreme with the bodies we were born into.

We expend a great deal of time, money, and effort to cross the gender divide in order to live as the gender we identify as.  We who seek medical transition must fully fund that process, and I personally wiped out a retirement account in order to fulfill that need.  There are standards of car that must be followed in order to obtain that medical transition.  You may read more about that at this link:
http://www.wpath.org/site_page.cfm?pk_association_webpage_menu=1351&amppk_association_webpage=4655

My point is that I am NOT a man.  The standards of care were put in place to keep men from getting the surgery and discovering to their horror that they had made a disastrous mistake - and then committing suicide.  Not every person who seeks to transition to a different gender gets to proceed; many get weeded out by psychological experts for various reasons and go on to live better lives.

I transitioned in 1997, and have never once regretted my decision.

This bill, however, would throw my world into chaos.  Worse, people just beginning to understand their gender identity and starting to transition are going to be placed at high risk of attack, including beatings, rape, and murder.  This would be on top of the already too high suicide rate for LGBT youth, who attempt suicide 3.4 times as often as straight youths, and transgender youth attempt suicide over 30% more often than their straight peers.  Do you really want to be seen as "piling on" and adding to the stress and pain and fear they're already having to deal with?  (Source:  http://www.suicidology.org/resources/facts-statistics )

I would also like to point out the South Carolina Constitution, Article I, Section 2 which says you may not make laws that respect a religion nor prohibit the free exercise thereof.

Then in Section 3 which says, "The privileges and immunities of citizens of this State and of the United States under this Constitution shall not be abridged, nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws."  By making a law that targets transgender people in a negative way, for no real reason, my rights are being abridged.

Let me ask you: in this great country, how many attacks on other people by transgender folk have occurred in a restroom?  ZERO.  None.  On the other hand, transgender women have been viciously and brutally attacked, some needing hospitalization, simply for being in the restroom and being what we call "read." (That's the read like you have read a book.)

So in closing, I ask again that you oppose this ill-conceived bill.  Leave transgender folk alone, because we're just wanting to live our lives without any intent to cause harm or mayhem on anyone.

Regards,
Rebecca Putman
1162 Glenarden Drive
Rock Hill, SC 29730
803-370-5346

</MSG>

</APP>