by LowellI mean, seriously, what would we do without heroes like Virginia Del. Mark Cole (Far-Right "R"), valiantly fighting back against the scourge of the
Fortunately for those Virginians (including, frighteningly a few serving on school boards!) terrified about using the restroom at the same time as a (GASP!!!!) transgendered person (seriously, what do the bigots think is going to happen? also, do they have any evidence that any of their fears are based in reality?), Cole has jumped to rescue us all, with his new bill, HB 781, "Use of restroom facilities; penalty." In particular, you've got to love this part: "Any student who willfully and knowingly violates this section shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $50. Civil penalties assessed under this section shall be paid into the Literary Fund. Any law-enforcement officer may issue a summons regarding a violation of this section." Just what we need, potty police. Not.
Unfortunately, Cole's district is as right wingnutty as they come, even going for wild-eyed extremist E.W. Jackson by 12 points over Ralph Northam (and 57%-38% for Cooch over Terry McAuliffe) in 2013, so we're unlikely to be rid of this bigoted bozo anytime soon. By the way, Cole's other 2016 bills include: voter suppression, gun nuttiness, and wildly regressive taxation. So yeah, the guy's about as far right as they come. Still, no matter what his ideology, there's no excuse for this kind of mean-spirited bullying of kids who have enough to worry about without the Mark Coles of the world treating them like crap for absolutely no reason.
