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The bathroom issue makes its way ’round the blogosphere

Cool, thoughtful post from a cop named Steve Douglas in Denver.

This seems to have been getting a lot more commentary on blogs than earlier incidents. Unfortunately, it’s mostly been of the hateful, fearmongering type. Quite possibly because this story has been picked up by FreeRepublic and the Drudge Report.

Which version of the story, you might ask? Drudge and the Freepers often link to New York Post articles, which tend to be right-leaning and sensational. However, in this case the Post story was actually balanced and sensitive. Too balanced and sensitive for the right-wing bloggers, who have all linked to the right-leaning and sensational Daily News story. Big surprise there.

I’d link to more of these stories, but they’re so formulaic it’s downright uncanny:

HEADLINE CONTAINING APOCALYPTIC PREDICTION OR ATTEMPT AT WIT

Intro containing apocalyptic prediction or attempt at wit (whichever wasn’t in the headline, or both).

Quote or entire text of Daily News article.

Uninformed fear-mongering about rapists, pedophiles or peeping toms using trans status as an excuse to invade women’s bathrooms. If the poster is a man, a tasteless joke about claiming to be a woman in order to peep at women.

Vicious bashing of transpeople as “freaks,” “deviants” or worse.

Blaming the liberals for letting society get to this point.

Hm. I’m actually wondering if the similarities in these posts are more than the simple result of these people all being raised with the same intolerant, small-minded viewpoint, and they’re actually being coached on this stuff. If so, ick.