McDonald: Rights are for all, including LGBT

Sex is always a topic that gets attention, but lately it’s been getting attention in some disturbing ways.

Transgender rights, sexual assaults on college campuses, and Internet pornography have all been in the news lately — and while they’re unrelated in the way in which they’ve made news, they all have one thing in common: sex.

Tom McDonald

The issue of transgender rights made national news last March when North Carolina passed a law prohibiting local governments in that state from passing ordinances that ban discrimination against people of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) orientation — as Charlotte, North Carolina had just done. The state law also mandates that students in the state’s schools use restrooms corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate.

Its passage set off a firestorm of protests, from big-name concert cancellations to organized protests that led to arrests, and the national debate turned to bathroom rights and gender identity.

The issue is growing out of college and university campuses, where students are pushing the limits of sexual identity. No surprise there, since sex was, is, and always will be a “hot” topic among young people in their teens and 20s.

Raging hormones coupled with an enhanced freedom of expression that comes with college life drives the issue, not some sort of liberal agenda.

But gender identity isn’t the only issue on campus. Sexual assaults on college and university campus have been on the rise and have been a growing concern since the White House put out a report in 2014 that laid out a frightening statistic: One in five college students is sexually assaulted at some point during their college career.

The report encouraged schools to take on the issue with more deliberate action, and many of them did — including the University of New Mexico.

Shortly after the report was released, UNM created a campus-wide Sexual Misconduct and Assault Response Team, or SMART, to facilitate preventative measures and support victims with immediate services and a coordinated response.

Hopefully it’ll make a difference.

One of the more high profile cases lately took place at Stanford University. A college freshmen was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. The culprit wasn’t some nefarious, lurking predator but an all-American swimmer, a teenager who had the whole world in front of him, and had too much to drink. He’s been sentenced to six months in prison.

The case highlights a harsh reality to sexual assaults on college campuses; very often, they’re fueled by alcohol. It impairs judgment, makes women vulnerable and men aggressive, and sometimes leads to rape.

When you consider the trauma that comes with sexual assaults and rapes, it’s hard to see why some people are so bent out of shape over transgender accommodations, unisex restrooms and the like. It’s not like cross-dressers are out to rape and pillage us straight people.

Besides, it’s not like heterosexuals have any sort of moral authority over proper sexual behavior. Straight men, collectively, have been more than “insensitive” — some have been abusive and violent toward women, homosexuals and transsexuals.

Blurring the lines between male and female will not destroy the fabric of our society. In fact, it’ll reinforce it, since freedom and rights are for everyone — including the LGBT community.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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