{"id":35574,"date":"2016-04-11T10:36:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=35574"},"modified":"2016-04-11T10:36:09","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T14:36:09","slug":"an-open-letter-to-bruce-springsteen-and-his-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=35574","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Bruce Springsteen and His Band"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>

In this November 2, 2008 file photo, Singer Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa listen as then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the Cleveland Mall in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dear Bruce,<\/p>\n

As a resident of North Carolina since 2003, I read with interest that you decided to cancel your April 10th<\/span> concert in Greensboro because of HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.<\/p>\n

In your statement<\/a> you explained that, in your view, the bill is \u201can attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

You added that it was time for you and your band \u201cto show solidarity for those freedom fighters\u201d (speaking of transgender activists), and you ended your statement with these powerful words: \u201cSome things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry \u2014 which is happening as I write \u2014 is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

I also read that your guitarist, Steven Van Zandt, has likened <\/a>HB2 to an \u201cevil virus\u201d that is spreading through the United States in the form of similar legislation.<\/p>\n

These are strong words, and they represent strong convictions.\u00a0So, let me first commend you and your band members for putting your principles before your livelihood, even to the disappointment of your North Carolina fans.\u00a0I have read that you regretted not performing at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Wembley, and perhaps this is your way of saying, \u201cI do care and I\u2019m here to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever your motivation, I admire anyone who puts morality before money.\u00a0My question to you and your band is simply this: In boycotting North Carolina and siding against HB2, did you really side with morality? Are you truly standing with \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m assuming you read HB2 for yourself and you\u2019re not just listening to media reports attacking the bill or, worse still, getting your talking points from biased lobbyist groups like the Human Rights Campaign. (If you\u2019re not really familiar with the bill, then click\u00a0here <\/a>and here<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

So, please allow me to ask you some questions.<\/p>\n

First, how do you know if someone is really \u201ctransgender\u201d or not? Is it determined entirely by how they feel about themselves? If so, do you think that it might be hard to make laws based entirely on how people feel? Did you ever stop to consider that?<\/p>\n

Second, what\u2019s the difference between someone with \u201cgender dysphoria\u201d (or, as it used to be called, \u201cgender identity disorder\u201d) and someone, say, with schizophrenia or \u201cmultiple personality disorder\u201d or some other psychological condition? In other words, if a man is a biological and chromosomal male but believes he is a woman, is he actually a woman, or does he have a psychological disorder?<\/p>\n

If he does have a psychological disorder, should we try to treat that disorder or should we celebrate that disorder? And is it right to call biological males who feel they are women and biological women who feel they are men \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d? Perhaps that\u2019s not the best use of the term?<\/p>\n

If you are deeply offended that I would dare suggest that many transgender individuals are dealing with a psychological disorder, could you kindly point me to the definitive scientific literature that explains that these biological males are actually females and these biological females are actually males?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying they don\u2019t deserve compassion.\u00a0To the contrary, I\u2019m saying that\u2019s exactly what they deserve: compassion, not celebration.<\/p>\n

But perhaps I\u2019m being too abstract here, so let\u2019s get really practical.\u00a0Let\u2019s say that a 6\u2019 4\u201d male who used to play professional football and who has secretly agonized over his gender identity for years finally determines that he must be true to himself and live as a woman.<\/p>\n

Do you think it might be traumatic for a little girl using the library bathroom to see this big man walk into her room wearing a dress and a wig? Should we take her feelings into account, or is she not important? What if that was your granddaughter? Would you care if she was traumatized? And when you speak of \u201cthe human rights of all of our citizens\u201d does that include little girls like this?<\/p>\n

I understand that this gentleman will have difficulties should he decide to dress and live as a woman, but that is still a choice he is making, and it is not fair to impose his struggles on innocent little children, is it?<\/p>\n

And what if this same man, whom we\u2019ll assume is not a sexual predator, wants to share the YMCA locker room with your wife and daughter, standing there in his underwear as they come out of the shower stalls wrapped in towels. Is this fair to them?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take this one step further.\u00a0If any man who claims to be a woman can use women\u2019s bathrooms and locker rooms, then how do we keep the sexual predators out? I\u2019ve asked people to watch this short video<\/span><\/span><\/a>, giving examples of male heterosexual predators who donned women\u2019s clothing to get into the ladies\u2019 rooms, and I\u2019d encourage you to watch it too.\u00a0Without HB2, rapists and voyeurs and pedophiles would have free access to our women and daughters in the safety of their own bathrooms and locker rooms.<\/p>\n

Since you don\u2019t like HB2 \u2014\u00a0indeed, your guitarist called it an \u201cevil virus\u201d \u2014\u00a0what\u2019s your plan to keep the predators out? How can we tell the difference between a \u201cgenuine\u201d transgender person and a sexual predator? Since everyone knows you as \u201cThe Boss,\u201d what would you do to keep the ladies and children safe?<\/p>\n

And one final question.<\/p>\n

When you booked the concert in Greenboro, the laws in North Carolina were just as they are today: In public facilities, people had to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their biological sex.\u00a0Why, then, did you agree to come in the first place? Why cancel the concert when things today are just what they were six months ago?<\/p>\n

Again, I appreciate your sincerity, but I question your judgment.\u00a0In your zeal to do what is right, you have actually done what is wrong.<\/p>\n

___
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Dear Bruce, As a resident of North Carolina since 2003, I read with interest that you decided to cancel your April 10th concert in Greensboro because of HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act. In your statement you explained … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}