Bette Midler has embraced an argument some have invoked to address the nation’s abortion crisis — educating transgender people to stand up … and a lightning rod at that.
The actress has been very active on Twitter for the past few days, blasting the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade — mostly bashing Clarence Thomas, it seems — and in the same breath … she’s talking about women’s rights. Emphasis on this first part.
WOMEN OF THE WORLD! They deprive us of our rights to our bodies, our lives and even our names! We are no longer called “women”; they call us “childbearing” or “menstruating” and even “vagina people”! Don’t let them delete you! Every person on earth is in your debt!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) July 4, 2022 @BetteMidler
BM writes: “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives, and even over our names! We are no longer called ‘women’, we are called ‘childbearing’ or ‘menstruating’, and even ‘people with vaginas’!”
She adds fervently… “Don’t let them wipe you out! Every person on earth owes you!” Of course, this extends to trans/non-binary people … and some call this POV transphobic.
“Tolerance of one group should not mean intolerance of another,” writes Pamela Paul. https://t.co/PhKyVu4tcw
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) July 3, 2022 @nytopinion
Interestingly, her comment links to a now-viral op-ed published in the NYT this weekend titled “Far Right and Far Left Agree on One Thing: Women Don’t Count” … in which the author makes similar arguments about cisgender women, who are “erased” on both sides of the aisle … either in the name of inclusion or outright oppression.
While some may agree, others say it’s a false equivalency to compare trying to be trans sensitive/using careful language to what the GOP seems to be doing (abortion bans) … implying that one is clearly a far more serious and dire threat than the other is.
In any case, we know where Beth stands on the matter. She seems to be an old-school feminist who is pretty pissed off about it all. One crisis at a time, though, maybe.
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