On Wednesday, the Republican super-majority in the Kansas legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly ‘s veto of a bill that banned trans students from participating in women’s and girls’ school sports. How will such students be identified? Well the bill’s sponsor said it could happen during sports physicals. That is, a doctor would inspect the person’s genitals and determine which sex they were based on that.

Think about this for a minute. Think about how invasive it is, and how creepy it is, how inappropriate it is.

Think about how unnecessary it is.

Kansas Republicans have spent THREE YEARS trying to pass this bill. The only point of these laws are to bully and humiliate trans people, and most especially trans girls and trans women. Guess how many trans girls and trans women are competing in school sports in Kansas? Three. Yeah.

Think about this too:  if the bill’s originator’s logic were followed, adults would be looking at the genitals of minors for no discernible scientific reason. It’s so disgusting. And the sheer meanness under-girding it is heart-breaking.

The organized, concerted attack on trans people has high odds of ending in tragedy, and perhaps even multiple ones. An atmosphere of incendiary rhetoric coupled with unceasing lies is untenable. Something is going to pop.

It’s another attack by the authoritarians I wrote about on Wednesday who are hellbent on destroying democracy and the rights of anyone who doesn’t look like and agree with them. In the meantime, the media continues with its TFG mania because the simplistic horse race narrative reliably draws clicks and eyeballs.

When will people just accept others for who they are?