gov mccrory
Gov. McCrory speaks to the camera in a campaign ad. Via YouTube.

Gov. McCrory‘s new campaign ad, titled “Common Sense” finds him talking directly to the camera, dumbfounded that the public has had such a strong reaction to HB2, the discriminatory bill he signed into law.

“Are we really talking about this?” he asks. “Does the desire to be politically correct outweigh our children’s privacy and safety? Not on my watch.”

YouTube video

Martie Sirois, educator and parent of a gender nonconforming child, has written a response to McCrory in a piece published by The Huffington Post titled “Governor McCrory, My ‘Boy In A Dress’ Is Not A Predator.” She writes:

Yes, Pat. I’m going to go ahead and answer your rhetorical question. We are still talking about this – a conversation that you began.

McCrory actually has a captive, scrutinizing audience with me because I happen to both 1.) work in the public school system, where he falsely persuades North Carolinians to think he has been raising teacher pay averages (but what he doesn’t say is that his “teacher pay average” averages in all school staff, including administration), and 2.) I’m the parent of a little boy who wears dresses. So I’m listening, Pat. You’re talking directly to me. And yes, I will continue to “really talk about this” – the conversation that you started.

Sirois takes umbrage with McCrory’s characterizing of concern for the rights of trans and gender nonconforming individuals seriously as “P.C. B.S.,” which he did during a radio interview when asked about the NBA moving the 2017 All-Star Game as a result of HB2.

One could take this in many directions, but probably the worst part is where McCrory declares that transgender people wanting equal rights is analogous with being “politically correct.” He questions, “does the desire to be politically correct outweigh our children’s privacy and safety?” Well, Pat, it’s actually not political correctness to believe that LGBTQ+ youth shouldn’t be bullied at school. It’s not political correctness to believe that we should offer these kids protections that we would expect all of our kids to have. Besides, federal court has already ruled that HB2 violates federal law, and has since blocked UNC from enforcing provisions. Hell, even the Governor can’t enforce his law in his own mansion, as several transgender female advocates have used the Ladies Room there in plain sight of security guards with no issue.

She explains that she will not flee North Carolina, but instead plans to stay and fight and see McCrory replaced. She also attempts to inform him of his disrespectful use of language, and notes that her emails to him have gone unanswered. She writes:

Pat McCrory, I am sickened by your continued use of phrases like “a boy who thinks he’s a girl, but is still a boy,” or one of your other favorites, the infamous “boys in dresses” description that you give to legitimate transgender people. Pat, allow me to direct you to a little education. We’ll call it Transgender 101. Lesson one is simple: Transgender girls are girls. They are not “boys in dresses.” But to really understand transgender people, or Native American “two-spirit” people, or gender non-conforming people is much deeper than that. We’ll save that for another day. Right now, the issue I have with raising a young, impressionable, gender non-conforming boy, is why do you feel the need to use and repeat the phrase ad nauseam, “boys in dresses?” Why not “girls in pants?” I’ll tell you why not. Because the assumption of blockheads like you, Pat, is that ALL boys are predators, and women are meek, lowly figures who need protection at all costs, especially in public restrooms and locker room facilities.

She notes that when her child decides to wear a dress out in public, “HE is the one who has to fear for his safety.”

She further states that McCory “hand-fed the very ignorant monsters who perpetuate this perverted predator in the restroom myth.”

“My husband and I cannot flush you and your legacy down the toilet fast enough,” she concludes.

Read the article in full here.

Jeff Taylor is a journalist and artist. In addition to QNotes, his work has appeared in publications such The Charlotte Observer, Creative Loafing Charlotte, Inside Lacrosse, and McSweeney’s Internet...

One reply on “Educator and mother of gender nonconforming child responds to McCrory’s new campaign ad”

  1. McCrory is so full of bull and self-importance he doesn’t know which end is up. He will never have the guts to admit he was so wrong to sign HB2. He is ruining our state and seems to be enjoying it.

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