UNLIMITED Arizona Hilarity thread

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm a little horrified that there are Bakersfield-y cities anywhere else.

It's not really LIKE Bakersfield, exactly... but it's the closest approximation I could find. It is to Oregon as Bakersfield is to California. One affectionate nickname it goes by is "Methford", but really, that's being too kind.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

[Juana]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

Which still sounds like Bakersfield to me.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

Which still sounds like Bakersfield to me.

They may well be sister cities. 

However, Bakersfield is about 4-5 times the size.

[Juana]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

Which still sounds like Bakersfield to me.

They may well be sister cities. 

However, Bakersfield is about 4-5 times the size.

Oh god. So more banjos and a smaller gene pool.

[insideout]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

Which still sounds like Bakersfield to me.

They may well be sister cities. 

However, Bakersfield is about 4-5 times the size.

Oh god. So more banjos and a smaller gene pool.

That's a pretty accurate description, based on what I remember from growing up around there.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's kind of like Bakersfield with dueling banjos.

Which still sounds like Bakersfield to me.

They may well be sister cities. 

However, Bakersfield is about 4-5 times the size.

Oh god. So more banjos and a smaller gene pool.

I think you're getting the picture!

[Juana]

FFS, Phoenix...

PHOENIX - One U.S. state lawmaker wants to link public bathroom use to birth certificates in what civil rights advocates call the nation's toughest anti-transgender measure.

The Arizona bill would require people to use public restrooms, dressing rooms or locker rooms associated with the sex listed on their birth certificate or face six months in jail.

The proposal had been scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday, but protesters forced a delay in lawmakers' debate.

With more people identifying as transgender, state and local governments are increasingly banning gender-identity discrimination to ward off legal battles, but both opponents and proponents say the laws don't explicitly demand businesses provide equal access for transgender people. That creates confusion over how businesses must act.

[sniped]

Among those waiting to speak out against the bill on Wednesday was Erica Keppler. She was born a man, but doesn't feel comfortable in men's bathrooms or locker rooms with her earrings, long hair and feminine clothing.

If the measure becomes law, Keppler said, she will be forced to go to jail or expose herself as a transgender woman each time she uses a public bathroom, dressing room or locker room, which could potentially make her vulnerable to threats from men unsettled by her appearance.

"Most transgender people try to slip through public places without being noticed," Keppler said. "This will turn us into criminals."

Transgender people often have a hard time changing the gender on a birth certificate because many states require proof of gender treatment surgery, which is expensive and often not covered by health insurance. Other states, including Idaho and Ohio, do not allow birth certificate changes for gender, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Discriminating against transgender people is illegal in at least 16 states. The protections vary. Minnesota prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, education and public accommodations, while Hawaii's law only applies to housing, according to the ACLU.

More than 100 cities and counties have passed laws prohibiting gender-identity discrimination, including Phoenix, Atlanta, New Orleans and Dallas. Those laws are also not uniform.

Some state laws are being tested in court. In one case, a Colorado family filed a complaint with the state's civil rights office after their child, who was born a boy, was prohibited from using the girl's bathroom at her school.

In Arizona, where Republicans control state government, bill sponsor Republican Rep. John Kavanagh said government shouldn't allow people to use facilities based on "you are what you think you are."

"This law simply restores the law of society: Men are men and women are women," he said. "For a handful of people to make everyone else uncomfortable just makes no sense."

Masen Davis, executive director for the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, said the proposed ban would target people who look different, regardless if they are transgender or not.

"No one should have to live in a world where they have to show their papers to pee," Davis said.

Although LBR, what's with Arizona and requiring papers in general?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Well, mostly it's because our state is full of authoritarian proto-Nazis.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Dude, what the hell.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So how the fuck is a transgendered woman going to make other women uncomfortable in the bathroom, but somehow she won't make men uncomfortable in the bathroom?

The whole "restoring order to society" line makes me want to cut someone.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So how the fuck is a transgendered woman going to make other women uncomfortable in the bathroom, but somehow she won't make men uncomfortable in the bathroom?

The whole "restoring order to society" line makes me want to cut someone.

You have to be SERIOUS about having a good time, to see the humor in Arizona.

Sometimes I laugh until my wife slaps me.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So how the fuck is a transgendered woman going to make other women uncomfortable in the bathroom, but somehow she won't make men uncomfortable in the bathroom?

The whole "restoring order to society" line makes me want to cut someone.

You have to be SERIOUS about having a good time, to see the humor in Arizona.

Sometimes I laugh until my wife slaps me.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11876/corrections-corporation-america-used-drug-sweeps-public-school-students

HAW HAW HAW

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/11/11876/corrections-corporation-america-used-drug-sweeps-public-school-students

HAW HAW HAW

GOOD TIMES.

I feel like the school-to-prison pipeline probably needs its own thread.