Bathroom 'issue' just a silly distraction

From the South Bend Tribune
Voice of the People
12/10/08

Bathrooms? Please. This is the argument used in the '70s when many of us were working to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed. I remember hearing that what the proponents of the ERA really wanted was joint bathrooms. It was a ludicrous, weird argument.

And here it is again, being used by Joe Sergio, in his letter of Nov. 13. It would be laughable, except that it completely ignores the real issues: Justice, equality, and freedom -- in the workplace, in education, in housing and medical care -- for all people, not just for some, and instead focuses on toilets.

Why is that? Why would anyone want to cheapen a conversation about people and justice and equality in such a way? Conversations about difficult, controversial subjects are far better served, surely we can all agree, by focusing on the real issues.

Nancy Mascotte did not stand before the SouthBend Common Council to make a case for the creation of joint bathrooms serving both males and females. These already exist -- in our homes and in family bathrooms in many public places. She was speaking out for what does not exist: equality for all Americans. Let's not trivialize the issue.

Martha Carroll

South Bend