Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) is an unashamed supporter of “gender-affirming care” and trans rights.
But on Thursday, the Democrat inadvertently made an argument supporting a division between locker rooms for biological women and trans women (i.e., biological men who identify as women).
What did Cohen say?
Paula Scanlan, a former swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government on Thursday that she and her female teammates were forced to share a locker room with Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as transgender.
According to Scanlan, it happened “18 times per week,” and when concerns were raised, school officials said it was “non-negotiable.”
When it was Cohen’s turn to speak in the hearing, he agreed that Penn mishandled the situation, and then he offered a solution: “barriers” between biological men and biological women.
“I read Ms. Scanlan’s testimony, I wasn’t here to hear it, and I think Penn didn’t deal with your situation like they could’ve and should’ve,” he said, “like putting up some type of different barriers in the women’s area of the locker room. But that’s another issue. Things should be dealt with in a different way.”
What was the response?
Cohen’s suggestion received a flurry of attention because his proposed solution already exists in a sane world: one locker room for biological women and a separate locker room for biological men.
- “Could I suggest walls and doors with locks,” one person mocked.
- “Like, a wall? Making a separate room? We could call it the ‘Men’s’ locker room,” another person mocked.
- “OR – have MEN change in the MEN’S locker room? That would probably be the easier fix…” one person suggested.
- “Wow, rather than spending all this money to make individual locker rooms in the women’s locker room why don’t we just have the guys with penises dress in the malelocker room oh my God genius genius!!” one person sarcastically applauded.
- “Like an entirely separate room perhaps?” another person suggested.
- “I’m thinking the best barrier is to have a wall, with separate doors, and a sign on one for women and a sign on the other for men. Simple!” another person responded.
- “If only there were some kind of barrier we could make out of, like, cement walls, and a maybe a separate door… it’s a huge undertaking but I think we could make it work on a large scale,” another person mocked.
- “Democrat rep solves problem of transgenderism by proposing the novel concept of separate spaces for people with penises and people with vaginas,” Allie Beth Stuckey mocked.
The irony of Cohen’s suggestion, according to the Washington Examiner’s Zachary Faria, is that it was an inadvertent admission that “he recognizes that transgenderism is based on the lie that men can be women and vice versa.”
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