Apple Among 53 Companies Supporting Transgender Student in Supreme Court Case

[BlandUsername]

I'm starting to actually get sick of reading this stuff on Mac Rumors. Technically speaking this "background" stuff has absolutely nothing to do with the Mac and the tech that comes out of Apple. The editors, moderators and administrators of Mac Rumors obviously have an agenda to ram this stuff down our throats. Engadget is doing this crap as well and it's getting real old. Many come here to read and discuss our favorite Apple products. Instead we are treated to a constant barrage of political and social commentary.

You have to take into account the people whom mod and run the site. The demographic of the staff does not necessarily match the demographic of the audience. I make it a point to not read the personal twitters and other links as they simply dont match up with 80 % of the country by location. West coast and upper East coast view points rarely if ever coincide with the rest of the country. Its feeding the troll when you mention them ramming material down your throat.

Rule 1: Never feed the trolls

 

[dannyyankou]

Who in this audiance is going to check their actual gender (what's under the hood) in the bathroom? I actually care more about the large group that seems to forget to wash their hands afterwords.

I agree, lol. Having to check someone's ID to use the bathroom seems like a dumb proposition.

And yeah, people need to wash their hands.

 

[KdParker]

Not really. There's a 60 40 split. And no black person has been fired or let go. It could be intolerance but it exists; therefore, there is a fallacy in the whole "white privilege" phenomenon.

Trust me. If you situation is true, it is not the norm.

 

[iphone1027]

Trust me. If you situation is true, it is not the norm.

Just because it's not the norm, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist; therefore, there is a big fallacy in the whole "white privilege" notion.

 

[TonyC28]

As we become more advance in understanding the human genetic code, we are finding out that sexual orientation is not as simple as male or female.

What do you mean by this? I'm genuinely curious.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

With due respect to those that are transgender, I have a few questions, and these are to learn, as well as provoke thought...

1. Why is it that I only hear about men wanting to use women's restrooms, and not the other way around?
2. Is this really an issue? I mean, the purpose of these rooms is to be able to relieve yourself, and get going, and to make it more sanitary, we have these rooms to take the waste, rather than just doing it in the middle of the grocery store aisles. I don't mean to minimize the issues that transgender people are going through when using the restroom of their birth certificate gender, but it seems that we're doing cartwheels to placate the worries of a very small percentage of the population (a subset of transgender people that are bathroom averse - this isn't an issue for all transgender people)

For the other social maladies in our past, such as sexual discrimination, that directly affects a subset of 50% of the population, and racial discrimination affects a subset of 45% of the population, so I can see us mobilizing on this. I will always use a "a subset of" as not all people that are in that group are affected, or really care about the issue.

3. What is the next issue coming down the pike? This one became the cause de celeb right after the gay marriage debate was over. I mean, after we have a restroom, built at business owner's expense, for every type of personal choice, drive, reason for not wanting to tinkle around others, what's next?

NOTE: 80% of the statistics in this post are made up, not researched, but are good approximations, like 50% may be the population of women in the US is 51% or 49%, but if that's your argument against this post, you really need to get a life, and a better argument.

I'll bite...

1) it applies to both but the side of the argument that wants to block access is more easily able to scare people by citing penises in women's rooms.
2) civil rights protections are most important for the very small percentages. To your main question though, imagine being a transgender person in high school. Let's say you were born with a penis and identify as female. You present on a daily basis as a female (dress in traditionally female clothing, wear makeup, etc...). You are going through a transition and hormones are causing your features to change and ultimately you will have surgery to change your genitalia. High school kids can be mean to anyone "different", you are already a target for ridicule on a daily basis, this condition you were born with has been highly traumatic and your transition is placing additional stress on you as well. People in your situation are already at a significantly higher risk of suicide than the rest of the population. Now you need to pee. You have to enter a bathroom, a situation that highlights again how you are different from others, do you - a person who feels female in your core and looks female in dress and manner - want to be forced into the "boys" room? If you can't manage the empathy then just flip it around; what if we pass a law that you personally have to use the opposite restroom from now on. Everyone else will continue to use the traditional facilities but you personally have to go into the other bathroom any time you need to relieve yourself. I assume you look like your gender, people are going to give you snide comments, look at your with disgust, occasionally get security or the police, assume you are a pedophile, maybe physically assault you. Are you OK with that? How about your sister/wife/daughter being subjected to that law? Perhaps she'll be sexually assaulted while using her government mandated bathroom. Now can you see why this is important to transgender people?
3) we can evaluate the current issue on its merits without worrying about what issue may arise next. Unless you have a specific situation you feel would be impacted (and some do have concerns, that's why there's a debate) by trans individuals using the bathroom matching their identity then this question is nothing more than FUD. Further, no one has mandated businesses construct new bathrooms, the proposal would only allow trans individuals to use the existing facility that is correct to them.

 

[Plutonius]

Dang it Apple, just make tech.

I agree. This issue has nothing to do with Apple's earnings.

If Tim wants to be a SJW, he should leave Apple and enter politics.

 

[gnasher729]

No this is about women being able to go to the bathroom without staring at or having to deal with some guys penis.

Women usually don't show their private parts to other people in the bathroom. At least that's what I'm led to believe. Since I don't have any personal experience, please advice me if I'm wrong.

 

[jmpage2]

What do you mean by this? I'm genuinely curious.

I'm genuinely certain that he's talking out of his arse.

 

[iReality85]

This whole thing is ridiculous, and I'm gay.

Single stall bathrooms should be uni-sex (and they usually are). There, accommodation met.

Multi stall bathrooms should be sex-specific. Truth is, there are perfectly legitimate, biological and cultural reasons why males and females use separate multi stall bathrooms, especially in schools with hormonal teenagers. It's an issue that really shouldn't be an issue.

 

[gnasher729]

Ha! So "God in his infinite wisdom" makes mistakes every so often and "give some people the wrong body". If that is the case, his wisdom wouldn't be all infinite, would it?
Ah, a liberal's paradox at its finest.

You should discuss that with a priest really. You are human and I am human. We don't understand why God does things. That's Ok. If God gives someone the wrong body, then this isn't a mistake. There is a reason that you and I don't understand, but there is a good reason. That's what any priest will tell you.

 

[KdParker]

You have to take into account the people whom mod and run the site. The demographic of the staff does not necessarily match the demographic of the audience. I make it a point to not read the personal twitters and other links as they simply dont match up with 80 % of the country by location. West coast and upper East coast view points rarely if ever coincide with the rest of the country. Its feeding the troll when you mention them ramming material down your throat.

Rule 1: Never feed the trolls

80 % by location might be true, but they are more inline with the population in general.

You're just going to have to accept that this issue is not going away. Even in the red counties/states there are people wondering about their sexual orientation or as the kids say how they self identify.

 

[62tele]

You are a horrible troll. In 72 years of Trump being on this planet, their biggest, BIGGEST SHOCKER was that he COMMENTED blowing smoke up a guys arse in private about grabbing his groupies by the cooter. lol! Not that he actually did it, not that there's proof, he made some locker room guy talk in PRIVATE. Oh, and let's not forget in the audio clip he actually says: "AND THEY LET YOU" which is NOT sexual assault. Have you heard of Wikileaks?

It's why your schmuck lost the Election. And this feigned, fake outrage right here is why you'll guarantee a Trump 2020 victory, and a Libertarian, Populist, Republican (if it's still around) Victory for eons to come.

No, Trump's victory was not because of his merits or his populist "vision." He doesn't give a flying rat's rump about the "people". He just sold them a bill of goods and like the morons that some of them are, they bought it.
Wikileaks? That's laughable
He's brilliant. Why, just the other day he stated. "Healthcare is unbelievably complex." Then he adds "Who knew it was so complicated." Obviously he didn't.
Live in your fantasy world of Trump adulation.

 

[horsebattery]

With due respect to those that are transgender, I have a few questions, and these are to learn, as well as provoke thought...

1. Why is it that I only hear about men wanting to use women's restrooms, and not the other way around?
2. Is this really an issue? I mean, the purpose of these rooms is to be able to relieve yourself, and get going, and to make it more sanitary, we have these rooms to take the waste, rather than just doing it in the middle of the grocery store aisles. I don't mean to minimize the issues that transgender people are going through when using the restroom of their birth certificate gender, but it seems that we're doing cartwheels to placate the worries of a very small percentage of the population (a subset of transgender people that are bathroom averse - this isn't an issue for all transgender people)

For the other social maladies in our past, such as sexual discrimination, that directly affects a subset of 50% of the population, and racial discrimination affects a subset of 45% of the population, so I can see us mobilizing on this. I will always use a "a subset of" as not all people that are in that group are affected, or really care about the issue.

3. What is the next issue coming down the pike? This one became the cause de celeb right after the gay marriage debate was over. I mean, after we have a restroom, built at business owner's expense, for every type of personal choice, drive, reason for not wanting to tinkle around others, what's next?

NOTE: 80% of the statistics in this post are made up, not researched, but are good approximations, like 50% may be the population of women in the US is 51% or 49%, but if that's your argument against this post, you really need to get a life, and a better argument.

1. That's due to the nature of some of the talking points that are usually brought up about this issue, e.g. women needing protection against the supposed perverts, rapists, etc. that would be invading the women's room. There has always been women using the men's rooms for a long time - the usual reason being long lines. However, it isn't usually the case where you hear about men needing protection against those perverts, rapists, etc. (that's a different discussion altogether).

2. When you have those that look nothing like their birth sex using the restroom that corresponds to their birth sex - let's say a transgender man - because they weren't allowed to use the men's room, then what about all those arguments against letting men urinate next to their wives and daughters?

I don't believe the population argument is particularly substantive. There has only been rough estimates of the transgender population, but that's primarily due to difficulties with gathering accurate data (similar to what's historically been the case with gays, for example).

3. Slippery slope arguments aren't particularly effective. When gay marriage was the subject, there has usually been the argument of persons marrying their pets, farm animals, or inanimate objects, or that it would lead to societal breakdown and chaos, but that has not happened. It is the same case for transgender rights. Another forum member above wrote of folks identifying as cats, and would then demand litter boxes to be present in restrooms. Perhaps if society experiences a wave of people identifying as such (and not only "suddenly when they wake up one day"), then it may indeed be something for legitimate debate. Until then, I do not expect to see people arguing for such, or experience a Xenomorph moment.

 

[Paul Dawkins]

Evolution also provided variation in gender identity, which in some cases trumps their physical attributes. An individual's rights are what this is all about.

You have no rights, what you have is a privilege to be able to do something.

 

[horsebattery]

This whole thing is ridiculous, and I'm gay.

Single stall bathrooms should be uni-sex (and they usually are). There, accommodation met.

Multi stall bathrooms should be sex-specific. Truth is, there are perfectly legitimate, biological and cultural reasons why males and females use separate multi stall bathrooms, especially in schools with hormonal teenagers. It's an issue that really shouldn't be an issue.

That you are gay, should provide you with the insight as to what "state's rights" really means with respect to the transgender issue.

 

[pika2000]

Look at the picture in the article. Do you want the big bloke with the blue "ACLU" writing on his top in the women's bathroom? Because THAT is what Trump wants.

Nobody wants men in the lady's bathroom. Nobody. That young man in the picture is in his view and in my view a man who should go to the men's. According to Trump he's a woman who should go to the lady's.

Hmm, looking back to the posted article, the only thing this is related to Trump is that he let the state decides whether they want to follow the guideline or not (he didn't axe the guideline), or do something else entirely.
So whatever happens, it's up to the state. I don't see how you can make claims on what "according to Trump" is. Take it to your local governor.

 

[shk718]

or being sprayed with mace because you wear a hat that the people setting fire to a place where someone that you disagree with is giving a talk because you believe in free speech, as long as a gay libertarian isn't doing it.

those are criminal acts that have nothing to do with privilege.

 

[KdParker]

What do you mean by this? I'm genuinely curious.

Genes and environmental conditions in the womb determine how the sex organs are going to develop. Whether this is a male/female or somewhere in between we don't know. We haven't figured out all the variables let alone how they interact to produce the final product.

 

[BlandUsername]

80 % by location might be true, but they are more inline with the population in general.

You're just going to have to accept that this issue is not going away. Even in the red counties/states there are people wondering about their sexual orientation or as the kids say how they self identify.

It might not go away. Good for them. In the grand scheme of things, its 2 minutes to take a leak. But talk about the upcoming Pencil Pro or whatever fine PRO product is going to get marketed for ungodly profit instead here. My point was and is, the staff opinion clearly does not match a good portion of the sites audience and clearly is unnecessary to feed the trolls.

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

It’s not about the bathroom. If it were, these “trans” people would just walk into the bathroom and privately sit in a stall and do their business. It’s about making a statement. It’s about making everyone else “accept” them. Unfortunately for them, it’s doing everything but. The left embraces them because it’s the compassionate thing to do, but also because it’s the cool thing to do. The right treats them like freaks who are just attempting to twist the “majority” to bend their social norms. Who wins here?

 

[macfacts]

Dang it Apple, just make tech.

I agree.

I think that Tim Cook takes these issues personally because he himself is gay. Nothing wrong with being gay or transgender, it is just not an issue I think a tech company should concern itself with.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Other than perceived cleanliness, I never understood why single person bathrooms were labeled men and women. They're single stall, who cares?

 

[Tycho24]

What the **** Apple? I didn't know Apple is that stupid.

Make sure to go make accounts at AmazonRumors.com, eBayRumors.com, PayPalRumors.com, MicrosoftRumors.com, TwitterRumors.com, TumblrRumors.com, et al to express your outrage at the "stupidity" of those companies as well, k?

 

[iReality85]

That you are gay, should provide you with the insight as to what "state's rights" really means with respect to the transgender issue.

I'm perfectly fine with states' rights. Let the chips fall where they may.

But we should take care not to draw parallels between marriage (which confers actual rights and benefits), and peoples' bathroom issues.